Gate: Nuclear Legion
by milkduds100
Summary: War, war never changes. In the year 2286, 5 years after the defeat of the Legion at Hoover Dam, the now united Pacific Alliance gets reports of a Legion force, numbering in the tens of thousands. After a surprisingly easy victory they discover that things are not as they seem. How will this new world react to such an alien army?
1. Chapter 1: Setting the Stage

**Chapter 1: Setting the Stage**

 **2281**

War, war never changes. In the year 2281, the remnants of the old world fought a brutal war in the hopes of claiming the Hoover Damn in order to ensure their dominance over the Mohave Wasteland. The blood shed destroyed and empowered many of the civilizations in and around the Mohave, allowing tyrants to rise to new power and corruption to spread to even the most noble of places. The two main combatants in this great war was the New California Republic and Caesars Legion.

The New California Republic, or as it's more commonly known the NCR, is the first successful effort at preserving the spirit and society of the old world America. Their beliefs and policies all heavily influenced by the old world, which in turn allowed them to spread their influence to all corners of the west coast of the former United States, while at the same time maintaining the stability to hold such a large culture. The NCR began rebuilding the world into an echo of the old, a nation where for the first time the individual man or woman can enjoy relative comforts and safety as they try to live out their lives. Order and democracy allowed for a system where the opinions of the people dictated the leadership, thus limiting the possibility of corrupt leaders abusing their power. However as with any country, before or thereafter, the NCR is not without its flaws.

Despite their questionable popularity, the NCR is considered saints next to their greatest rival, Caesars Legion. The Legion was formed in the brutal conquest of 87 tribes, all lead by a single man who proclaimed himself "Caesar". Through his advanced knowledge of old world tactics of war and classical education of classical societies, Caesar formed an empire that he believed would meet the challenges of the post-apocalyptic world. Their male dominated society treated women as nothing more than slaves and breeders, only fit to work and give birth to the soldiers of the Legion. Their tactics are brutal, effective, and displays cruelty that makes even the hardened wasteland shake with fear.

Their battle lasted for years, with the NCR only able to prevent the advance of the legion past the Colorado River. During that time they have made contact and alliances with many of the inhabitants of the Mohave Wasteland.

Although their relationship is rocky at best, Mr. House, who is the soul ruler of the former Las Vegas City, allowed the NCR to create bases and trade agreements around his territory. Mr. House is the owner of the now named New Vegas, and a very intelligent man who managed to survive the nuclear fallout of the great war 200 years prior. Their are few who have ever seen him, but his army of securitron robots ensures the security of New Vegas. Mr. House has dreams of rebuilding the technology of the old world, even to the point of space travel within the next century.

During this time, one man stood above the rest, becoming a sort of messiah and leader to the troubled Mohave. His real name was lost in the desert sands, taken away by two bullets. He's known only by his profession. The Courier, as he's called. A job that was considered fit for young teens in the old world, now one of the most dangerous and important in this new one. The Courier united the Mohave and turned old enemies into the closest of allies.

Prior to the second battle of Hoover Dam, under the orders of Mr. House, the Courier gained the trust and alliance of the Boomers, Brotherhood of Steel (Managing to convince Mr. House of their worth), and the remnants of the Enclave. That, along with Mr. Houses upgraded Securitron army, managed to defeat Caesars Legion and secure the Dam for an independent Vegas, free from the control of the NCR.

However, this was the beginning. With the failure of the Mohave, General Oliver and President Kimbal were removed from their posts, the people feeling that their desire for conquest nearly ruined the NCR. That same year a new President was elected, a woman by the name of Kureopatora. A woman of Japanese ancestry, she saw the wisdom in a peace and alliance with the factions in the Mohave.

 **2282**

The new President began to make an alliance with Mr. House and the other dwellers of the Mohave Wasteland in an effort to create a defensive pact to protect against a future Legion invasion. She met and personally spoke with the Courier to try and convince him to work speak with Mr. House in her place. After a week of negotiations the Courier agreed to the arrangements and began to gather representatives from every major faction in the Mohave.

Representatives from the major factions as well as minor settlements, met in the old Fort McCarran, which was being remade into the center of a transportation hub that would create rail lines throughout the Mohave. In what would be later known as the McCarran Peace Agreement, a new civilization would be born that truly began to model that of the old world.

The main factions consisted of the Boomers, Brotherhood of Steel, Mr. House, and the NCR. Minor factions included the families, Followers of the Apocalypse, the Kings, and every small town and village. Even some factions from the grand canyon, such as Joshua Graham and the local tribes attended the meetings. While hostilities were felt among the factions, the presence of the Courier managed to ensure a peaceful discussion.

The negotiations took months, constant back and forth promises and deals being made, many of the factions not being satisfied with certain proposals, and the general distaste for the past actions of the NCR made it difficult for a satisfying agreement. Had it not been for the Courier it's very possible that wars would have begun right there.

By the end of the year the Pacific Alliance (PA) was born. Each faction would become its own state, which would be maintained by an elected council that would represent each state. On the 21st of December the final arrangements were made and the Pacific Alliance was born.

 **2283**

In the beginning of 2283, it was decided that a single army would be created in order to protect the PA as a whole from foreign threats. Each state would have to provide aid to the creation of this army. The army was formed by combining the warriors from each faction.

The bulk of the army is the NCR, they had the largest army of any other faction as well as moderate enough training that gave them an edge in any engagement. With aid from MR. House, the NCR began mass producing weapons and equipment that is completely independent from simple scavenging from the Wastes. Each soldier could be outfitted with costume made flack armor, steel bowl like helmets, and upgraded service rifles that were far superior to their older counterparts. The NCR Rangers kept the look of their armor but even that is no longer scavenged remnants of old war riot gear.

The Brotherhood of Steel became a kind of armored unit. In the old world tanks were becoming obsolete thanks to the invention of power armor. With the armor to stop anything short of a rocket launcher and the mobility of an infantry soldier, power armor made tank combat nearly useless. As with the NCR, Mr. House completely updated and aided in the mass production of new power armor. These variants were exact replicas of the old power armor but since they are no longer rusting and aging their armor is stronger than the 200 year old models. They exchanged small fire weapons for larger ones. Most BoS soldiers are equipped with either rocket launchers, Gauss Rifles, or mini-guns.

The old remnants of the Enclave, not wanting to lose their legacy, began training and creating a unit entirely meant for this new army. Under the name "Project: Remnant", they began training and equipping new initiates to become an elite armored unit for the combined army. They became a sort of heavy armored Rangers for this new army and managed to create a small unit of elite power armored soldiers. The Remnants became one of the most fear units in the future wars for the Alliance, becoming as infamous as the NCR Rangers for their brutal effectiveness in combat and their nearly impenetrable armor.

The Boomers, excited at the new factories that MR. House built for them in Nellis, became an artillery unit for the army. Their Howitzers completely revolutionized post-apocalyptic wars and made them to be very similar to the old ways of combat. They even managed to make a handful of bombers, allowing the alliance to dominate the skies for the first time in 200 years.

Mr. Houses Securitrons became protectors for this new army. Mr. House did not want his securitrons to be used as front line fodder, since he was not willing to give the alliance more Securitrons than he felt necessary. They acted only as law enforcers and protectors of Alliance Military bases and property. Although Mr. House began to upgrade his older Securitron model, he did allow the old models to be used by the Alliance.

The other states offered their assistance, either as donations or young men and women for military service. Since most cultures could not offer as much as the big ones, they did what little they could and even had to pay reasonable taxes in order to ensure the strength of this new army could push back any enemy.

 **2284**

By September of 2284, the Alliance finally had a fully developed and trained army, but one final question was left unanswered, who would lead this new army? Most members of the Council insisted it would be the Courier, but not wanting to elevate his position anymore than necessary he politely declined. The Courier wanted to remain unaffiliated to any organization and only ensured that he would remain as a kind of mercenary to the new army. Although he had no official authority for the Alliance, his words and opinions became absolute. Nearly every leader and politician trusted him so much so that he became almost an emperor in many ways. However his presence in politics was almost non-existent, preferring to live out his old life in peace.

As such, the Courier returned to a simple life of delivering messages and mail around the Mohave.

 **2285**

Mr. House announces the production line of the new MB 285, a light vehicle that would be used for use by the Alliance in military affairs. Its design was based heavily on the old JEEPs from the 2nd World War. It used an experimental solar powered engine that would replace the need for gas or nuclear energy. A design House was working on prior to the great war. This prototype model was distributed to the Alliance Military soon there after, with plans for a civilian version in the near future.

Because of the engines experimental design, it could not go nearly as fast as pre-war vehicles. At full throttle it could reach speeds of 30 MPH, nowhere near how it should have been. However, this means that the post-apocalyptic Alliance had transportation far faster than any other society in the entirety of the wastelands.

 **2286**

Augest 26th 2286, Legion forces have been spotted north of Nellis. Thanks to their preparation the Alliance is more than ready and begins dispatching forces out to meet the Legion. Reports claim the Legions numbers are in the tens of thousands with upgraded armor and weapons. This greatly worried the Alliance Military but moral soared as they finally had a foe to fight against. Fearing a failed preemptive strike, the Council asked for the assistance of the Courier.

What followed changed the fate of the Mohave Wasteland forever.

* * *

 **Empire Central War-tent: Sunset**

General Maximus was having a decent time him his tent, allowing his servants to wash his body from the long march to the location of the Gate. He was ecstatic to be one of the many nobles to lead an expedition into the gate, Even more so, he was made commanding general of all forces for this little conquest. Being a man of intelligence he chose to send out scouts prior to sending forces into the gate. Their report was a barren desert with small tribal settlements in the area. He was glad that it would become an easy victory, but a bit sad that he wouldn't be able to properly test his new leadership position against a decent adversary.

His beautiful maids eagerly cleansed him from the dirt and grime he gathered these past few months, treating him as the royal he is. Although he always remains faithful to his wife he does enjoy having beautiful women around him. With practiced precision they began to put on his steel colored armor and blood red cape. He needed to look fresh prior to his entrance into the gate. His initial forces would secure the immediate area prior to his arrival.

He attached his straight sword to his belt and grabbed his shield, preparing to leave the tent in preparation for the arrival. He carried himself with elegance befitting a senior noble, showing nothing but absolute confidence and precision.

He began loading his gear on his horse, ready for a battle if need be. Although his main force entered the gate days ago, he wanted to make sure he was ready for anything. He doubt he would be fighting early on, or at all if they are nothing but barbarians and tribals, but he liked to be prepared for any scenario.

"My Lord." Came the sound of one of his many messages. A common man in light armor approached him at a light jog. Stopping just prior to the old general he took a breath to regain control of his breathing.

"What is it messenger?" The Noble asked in a commanding but inviting voice. Both displaying his rank and dominance, while also inviting a reply from the young soldier.

"We have word from the other side of the gate, My Lord." He said a bit fearfully, which the General noted as being strange.

"Are they ready for my arrival?" Maximus asked. The messenger froze up in fear, not sure how to respond. His face became pale and his palms began to sweat, unsure of how to relay this information to a man of such rank.

"Only a single man has returned, gravely injured, My Lord." The messenger said simply, unsure of how to word it properly.

"What do you mean?" The General asked forcefully, confusion clear on his face.

"The initial force was wiped out this morning, only a single survivor returned, My Lord." The messenger said again in a similar tone to his fearful one previously.

"Impossible, last night they reported to have not engaged anyone, how could 30,000 men get wiped out in a single morning?" The General asked but did not wait for a reply. Instead he went over to the medical tent in order to get the answers he needed. What he found shocked him to the core.

The survivor was barely holding on to life, he had burns all over his body and was missing both his legs and his shield arm. His hair was in patches, as if it had fallen out, and his remaining hand, which had 3 fingers, where missing their nails. His left face was swollen and covered his eye, while his other eye looked as if dirt had been rubbed into it for days. It gave off an unnatural red color that looked sickly. The General knew this man did not have long to live so he needed to get that information immediately.

"What has happened to you brave soldier?" He asked in a calming tone, hoping to sooth the dying man before his death. The man reached out and the general clasped his hand in a warriors gesture.

"They came out of the sand." The dying man weakly replied. "Men made of sand and rock, they came out of the sands themselves. Armed with strange staffs that destroyed out shields and armor. trolls of pure iron that shot lighting at us. Dragons of steel that rained fire." The man struggled to comprehend what he saw. "They destroyed all of us, their weapons burned and men began to disappear into dust."

"What did these men look like?" The general asked.

"They were not men." The man cracked out. "That world, a hellish place. Men became sick of strange diseases, we couldn't even drink the water. There were demons, flying, claws, giant bugs. Demons, hell. Hell. It is hell, that land. The sky is so dead, very little blue. The ground is poison, the food is poison, the water is poison. The demons thrive, they eat, and kill, and kill." The man began rambling.

"How many?" The General gently squeezed the mans hand, enough to reassure but not cause pain.

"Trees of fire, trees of fire, trees of fire." The General knew the man was lost at this point.

"Put him out of his misery, do it painlessly. And ensure he is given proper tribute for his actions.

These things he spoke of, demons, Hell, trees of fire. Could this be hell, did the empire open a gate to hell itself. Will the denizens of this world consume them and rain fire upon the empire. The General seriously considered this and new that the gate must be closed. If what this man said is true then the gate will need to be destroyed. The General knew he would be put on trial but that pales in comparison to what these beasts are capable of doing.

"I want all hands to aid me in the destruction of this cursed gate, these beasts must not enter our world." The General said. He and all his men got whatever they could use to destroy this gate, even the orks and their beasts.

The General stood at the center of the gate, ready to begin his work. His men, all ready to work with speed and efficiency prepared to destroy this dark object of unholy creation. He stood admiring the gate in a new light, a way that was different from before. His actions driven by pure fear and instinct he knew that if anything escaped it would wreak greater havoc than a dragon ever could.

Before they began however they saw something approach from the other side. A demon, with green eyes and strange carvings on its armored forehead. A single one that stared at them with those horrible green eyes. It had no face, only a mask that concealed a hideous face that must surely be hidden. It's body was concealed by a long robe that reached to its ankles. A single object in its sword arm raised and appearing to point at the General himself.

Instantly his body shook violently, followed by a loud explosion. His chest burst in blood and pain, unable to maintain his balance he fell to the ground. The last sounds he heard was a war cry that only an army of demons could bring. He prayed to God to deliver his family from this horrid fate, these demons that the empire so casually released.

* * *

 **Imperial Palace**

"Your Majesty, we expected 100,000 casualties in total from the nations. The defeated armies have been left without leadership and are returning home." The adviser to Emperor Molt delivered the information about the failed allied attack on Arnus Hill.

"All according to plan." The scheming emperor said in a relaxed voice. "Our neighbors can no longer threaten the Empire." He breathed a sigh of relief. "Burn every town and village between here and Arnus Hill, poison the wells and take the food and live stock. That should halt the advance of any army." He said in a monotone voice.

"Scorched Earth tactics?" His adviser said. "I worry about the defectors and loss of tax revenue from this course of action." He voiced his reasoning.

"Defectors?" Molt said in mild surprise. "There are motions in the Senate to have you recalled, beginning with Duke Casel." He warned.

This is a good opportunity to take care of the entire Senate in one swoop." The Emperor laughed to himself. "Let us order the Council to investigate." He smiled.

"Your Majesty." Came a voice from the back of the room. Pinya, the 5th child to the Emperor and 10th in line for the throne. A young red headed woman who carried herself with elegance and class, even in the armor that she now currently wore.

"My daughter." The Emperor said with slight distaste in his voice. "What do you need?" He said, wanting to get this little matter over with quickly.

"It's about Arnus of course." She gave a slight bow to her father. "I have learned that an allied army has faced miserable defeat, and that the empires holy ground, Arnus Hill, has been captured and occupied by the enemy. What are you going to do at a time like this?" She said with slight worry in her voice.

"We will use this opportunity to take back Arnus Hill." The adviser said sternly, holding his arms outward to try and visually get his point across.

"What complacency!" Pinya turned and yelled at him. "This will not help us stop the enemy invasion!" She reasoned forcefully.

"Pinya, you are correct." The Emperor said lazily. "But we are far too ignorant of the enemy on Arnus Hill." He smiled deviously. "This is perfect, could I ask you and your order to scout their position?" He asked, knowing she would jump at this opportunity.

"Me? With my Order?" Pinya said in complete shock.

"Indeed." The Emperor smirked, knowingly playing a cruel trick on his own daughter in order to get her out of his way. "If your Order is more than your plaything of course."

Pinya's eyes swelled up with surprise, then determination. She felt a sense of relief, fear, and excitement run through her at finally having the opportunity to become a warrior outside of just an Honor Guard.

"I understand, Your Majesty." She bowed to one knee, hardly able to contain the joy in her voice. She turned around and exited the room with haste in order to prepare her Order.

"Your Majesty." The Adviser got his attention.

"Yes?" Molt asked impatiently.

"About the second Gate..." He trailed off, trying to find a way to explain what happened. "Recent reports says that there is another army that exited, that wiped out the remaining 60,000 Legionaries that we posted there." He said with slight hesitation.

"I see." Molt said, with minor fear in his voice. "Our army is barely able to maintain our own borders at this point, we'll have to find a way to take care of this situation." He said.

"There's more." He said, taking the Emperors attention once again. "Survivors have called it a demon army, there are tales that on the other side is the land of Hell, that demons have begun exiting the gate. It's said that the entire world is poisoned. That the trees are made of fire and the sky is devoid of any blue colors."

"We will handle this situation when it comes, hopefully these demons will attack Arnus hill and weaken this new enemy. Perhaps they will weaken each other so that we can push them back." The Emperor began plotting. "Leave now." He commanded and the Adviser left with haste.

The Emperor did not allow fear to get the better of him, he knew there is a way to defeat this enemy, either through war or deception. But these demons, if the stories are true... he pushed it to the back of his mind for later. For now he would deal with Arnus.

 **End Chapter 1**

And that's it so far. Please review.


	2. Chapter 2: 2nd Battle of Arnus Hill

**Chapter 2: 2nd Battle of Arnus Hill**

"Can you believe this?" A young soldier, dressed in desert tan with a simple flak jacket and steel helmet, said to his buddy. "I've never seen so much green, and the sky." He motioned to the perfect blue sky that was overhead. "It's like an old Gragnock comic."

"Yea." his friend said, dressed in a similar outfit. "Who would have thought such pre-war technology exists. Where do you think we are?" He asked.

"It has to be the past, or something of that nature. Maybe this is what China looks like, they might not have been hit by the bombs." The first soldier said.

"But then why is the Legion here?" The second soldier asked.

"Who knows, those pricks were easy enough to handle, nothing like the stories my older brother said." He laughed, clearly a little overconfident about the recent victory over the Legion.

"You too, get back to work quickly." A voice said from behind the young soldiers, slightly startling them.

The young soldiers turned around to see a man dressed in an old veteran Ranger duster, the number 21 stitched onto his back. His hair was shoulder length and fell in dark waves, eyes hardened by years in the wasteland and small scars adorning his face and what little can be seen on his neck. His left forehead had 2 bullet sized scars that seemed to have healed poorly over time.

"Yes sir!" The two soldiers stood up and saluted this superior officer.

"Good men." The man said and walked off.

This man was the Courier, the hero of the Mohave and the scourge of the Legion. A man who's entire reputation was developed on how he single handedly brought an end to the war with the Legion and united the west coast of the former United States into an alliance that had no equal. This was the man who was (Unofficially) leading the PA against the Legion.

The Courier had a feeling that this would be a different engagement than he was used to the moment he saw that ancient looking gate. Not ancient by modern standards, but ancient by old world standards. He was sure that the brains on Big Mountain would have a field day with this.

For this little venture the Courier decided to stay light, only using his Desert Ranger armor and a small back pack that had the bare essentials. His weapons were simple too, a single .357 revolver, a .45 auto pistol, and a scoped .308 hunting rifle. He always preferred to keep a simple load out over something bulky and cumbersome. Although the NCR offered him upgraded stuff, he still preferred what he could scavenge about the wastelands. If it's not broken it doesn't need to be fixed, after all. Or maybe it's the reverse when dealing with pre-war weapons.

The Courier was the first one through the gate, now in the place that has been code named "Elysium", which was fitting for what they have seen. This also marks the first time the Alliance factions are creating a new military base as opposed to finding and using an old one. It actually filled him with a small sense of pride to watch all these men diligently do things they've never done before. The base would be crude but effective.

As for defenses, he left that up to men who have training and experience leading armies. He's just a simple Courier after all. Colonel Few is the base Commander and a veteran of many of the NCR wars. He explained a lot of his defenses to the Courier.

The area is surrounded by steep mountains to the rear but open on all sides. The area is also completely flat, a fact the Commander doesn't like but he accepts non-the-less. He created a perimeter of barbed wires, with explosive mines in areas that he knew troops would not go around. Boomer Artillery was mounted in the center of the base, but away from the gate, to ensure effective fire power is delivered on the enemy. Securitrons took up positions at potential check points and areas on the road for protection. BoS knights were fully armored and patrolled around the barb wire areas, staying clear of the mined areas. Sandbags and ditches were created as a second line of defense, which ensures that soldiers have a place to take cover. Super Mutants have been volunteering in the army for sometime now, and are positioned with the BoS knights. Their amazing abilities makes them a force to be reckoned with. Machine-gun nests and snipers dot the area, making a full frontal assault nearly suicide.

The initial force is 5,000, with another 20,000 in reserve back at Nellis. They are made up of elements from the Heavy Infantry Corp, which are now comprised of BoS members as opposed to NCR soldiers, 1st Recon Regiment, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, Infantry Divisions, and the Mechanized Division.

Behind the sandbags and ditches, around the immediate area of the gate, are the tents and bulk of the 5,000 strong army. Supply tents, armory's, mess halls, command tents, etc. Everything is placed in the center for protection.

The Courier entered the main command tent, where Colonel Few was located. The man had a map of the known area crudely drawn by his scouts and intelligence gathering sources. No doubt he would be explaining what it all is.

"Colonel." The Courier said to get the older mans attention. The Colonel turned and smiled as he saw the Courier.

"Courier, it's an honor to finally meet you." He greeted as he gave a salute. Although the Courier is not affiliated with any army, everyone salutes him out of respect. If you ask him, it's kind of annoying but he deals with it anyway.

"Likewise." The Courier said, remembering some of the basic information about the Colonel. A man with quite the record and victories under his belt. Even as a Captain in the war with the Legion he's never lost a single battle or engagement.

"We have a lot to discuss about what's happened recently." He said, offering a seat for the Courier.

"Like those artillery explosions from 2 days ago?" The Courier asked, referring to large explosions of an unknown origin happening to the east of their current position.

"Yes, about 7 Kilometers away we found another base." He said. "We sent out a Reconnaissance Vertibird to the location, what we found was another army was engaging Legion Forces." He said.

"So they're friendly?" I asked hopefully.

"Unfortunately no, after the battle they began assaulting our own Vertibird, killing two soldiers and injuring the pilot. They barely managed to make it back to base before having their engines fail." He said, taking out a cigarette box and lighting one. "Cancer stick?" He motioned the box to the Courier.

"I don't smoke." The Courier said. The Colonel shrugged and put it away. "So what's the plan of action from here?" The Courier asked.

"We have to engage this enemy and destroy them before they attack us. They will no doubt send scouts in the direction our Vertibird went and will soon discover us. I've sent out Patrol Rangers to gain information on their location and we're going to assault their base tonight." The Colonel said and showed me another map. This one was hand drawn and showed the enemies base of operations. "Like us, they're still setting up so they're not as heavily defended as they'd probably like to be." He wiped some ashes that fell from his stick off the map.

The enemies base was a star shape, located on top of a hill with barb wire defenses and entrenched machine-gun positions. They have large old world tanks that will prove very deadly to any ground force attack. Artillery pieces dot the area as well, again making a current direct assault dangerous and bordering suicidal.

"We'll use Vertibirds to do attack runs of their machine-gun positions, and our Boomers (Affectionate name for Artillery) to weaken their artillery capabilities. They will also target specific barb wire areas to create a hole for us to engage. Then we'll assault with our ground forces to take the objective." He said, pointing at the locations he plans on targeting. "Ground forces will be comprised of 3 Infantry Company's from 1st and 2nd ID (Infantry Division) as well as a Platoon from the Heavy Infantry Corp. 1st Recon will screen the flanks in order to give an early warning of an enemy counter attack. We'll also have a Company from the Mechanized Division with 285s." The plan seemed well enough, most avenues were covered but the Courier was no Commander. This kind of talk largely escaped him.

"Why do you need me?" I asked.

"You'll be going in with the main force, your skill and battlefield prowess was essential during the 2nd Battle for Hoover Dam, so we need you to break through their defenses."

"I'll get to it immediately." The Courier said, a little glad to be back in the front lines. While the simple life of a Courier was peaceful for him, which is ironic since it's one of the most dangerous jobs in the wastes, he longed to fight in a war again like he did five years ago.

The Colonel saluted and the Courier nodded, never felt right to salute when you're not a soldier. He turned and prepared himself for the battle.

* * *

1st LT Itami was just having a normal day of working for what would normally be considered a Friday. He was helping to set up some of the communication towers and other electronic equipment in preparation for any future assaults by the Roman like army. Not that he felt they needed it, after all they already successfully stopped 3 counter attacks by the enemy. They stood no chance as they were brutally cut down by the artillery and gun fire from their modern weapons.

There was one thing that was unsettling though, that strange double bladed Helicopter. In the confusion of the night it was thought to have been a dragon but in reality it was a Helicopter. It was strange since there were no reports of any helicopters operating at the time. It was confirmed to have taken damage but they inventoried all of their birds and didn't find a scratch, and every one was accounted for. The JSDF were still short on man-power because they were setting up the base so they couldn't send out a Recon team just yet.

The whole situation didn't sit well with the young LT., but he felt that it would work itself out. He highly doubted an army like this could exist in a world where people still fought with swords and shields. Perhaps their eyes were playing tricks on them and it really was a dragon, it was dark out so it's possible it could have been one. The dragons showed that their hide was very strong and could take direct hits from a 7.62mm round so it could have easily survived an attack.

It was getting late and Itami decided to turn in for the night since his shift was over. He went over to the tents and stripped off his armor and jacket. His boots came off with minor difficulty and he pealed off his damp socks, exchanging them for a dry pair for the cool night. He laid down on his cot and pulled his green blanket over his figure. He shut his eyes and it wasn't long before he fell asleep.

BOOM

Itami woke up violently from a massive explosion that shook the entire base. His training kicked in and he quickly put on his boots and vest, forgoing his jacket for now. He ran outside after grabbing his weapon to see what was happening.

Flares were launched into the sky, illuminating what happened while he was asleep. In the distance there were fires and craters where their defensive positions were and he could barely make out the twisted metal of a destroyed tank.

BOOM

Another explosion hit but this time it missed their tanks. They had no idea what was going on. Not one to freeze up in a tense situation, the lazy XO ran towards the destruction to get another look at the situation.

BBUURRRRRR

A mini-gun, but Itami knew there were no helicopters in the sky. He looked up and saw multiple double bladed helicopters of an unknown design making a strafing run of their defensive positions, right where the machine-gun nests were. Itami saw where they impacted and noticed small bits of red liquid spurt up from the dust cloud, Itami refusing to think of what that could possibly be.

The strange helicopters began firing missiles at the tanks and artillery pieces, even destroying some AA weapons as well. Itami, being an Officer, knew what this enemy was doing. They were weakening their Fires capability before their initial assault. It's standard procedure, assault the enemy with artillery and airstrike to weaken their defenses, then send in ground forces.

The helicopters stopped their movement and hovered directly over the base, gunners on the sides began firing machine-guns on all ground targets. Bullets wizzed around Itami as he struggled to find cover. He got behind some crates and switched his weapon to semi-automatic. Jumping from cover he began to fire at the gunners in the helicopters, who quickly flew away after their quick assault.

"Sir!" A soldier yelled at Itami. "We're getting attacked on the northern positions by an unknown enemy!" He yelled, clearly looking for orders. Itami steeled himself and prepared for the fight.

"We need to regain superior firepower, get anyone you can and rush back to those machine-gun nests. We can't let the enemy break through our forward lines!" Itami yelled.

"Roger Sir!" The soldier yelled and ran off to do what he was told.

Itami got up and charged down the hill to their machine-gun nests, which where completely destroyed and riddled with bullet holes. JSDF soldier were everywhere, torn to pieces from the large caliber weapons from those birds. The area was slick with gore and pieces as small as a fist were splattered and sticking to the vegetation.

Itami looked over to where the enemy was advancing and had a look of legitimate surprise. To make sure his eyes were not playing tricks on him he took out his binoculars and got a better look.

The enemy looked like Vietnam era Americans. They were dressed in tan fatigues and simple flak jackets. Their weapons were some kind of M16 variant and they wore outdated helmets. At a closer look he noticed the M16s were made of wood, which was nothing like the plastic ones the Americans used. Their vehicles were WW2 era JEEPs that were very slow for their standards but those machine-guns mounted on the back provided plenty of protection.

What was strange though were armored men. Covered in what looked like futuristic knight armor. They had to be strong because Itami noticed that bullets were bouncing off of them like BBs. They had large Machine-guns and some kind of rocket launcher. Some even had rifles and shoulder mounted weapons Itami has never seen.

Itami took aim and began firing at anyone he could. He gave up on the armored guys since nothing seemed to damage them, and focused on the light infantry. Fortunately their flak jackets aren't plated so they went down easy enough, but with so many attacking and their main firepower wiped out, it was only a matter of time before they were overwhelmed.

Another one of those helicopters made a strafing run on Itami's position. He hit the ground and covered his head, hoping he wouldn't get hit. He heard rounds impact all around him and men screaming as they were hit, but he managed to avoid the worst of it. He felt rocks and dirt hit his face as the rounds kicked it up and sent it flying.

Picking himself up, he began firing again. The enemy was nearly on top of him so he affixed a bayonet and jumped from his cover, stabbing a soldier in the gut just bellow his flak vest. The man screamed in pain and fell over, unable to get up from the pain.

Another man shot Itami in the chest but luckily his armor managed to stop the round. Itami just felt a massive punch to his torso but was able to shrug it off as he returned fire and killed the man.

Itami saw another man, this time is a long trench coat with a gas-mask attack him. Itami stabbed at him with the bayonet but the man easily grabbed it and ripped it out of his hands. He threw the Rifle away and punched Itami square in the face.

Itami quickly retaliated by ramming his shoulder into the mans gut, trying to tackle him to the ground. This was useless as the man let himself fall over and used Itami's own momentum to flip him over and hit the ground. The man then got on top of Itami and got out a K-bar looking knife. He stabbed at Itami's neck but the young Officer managed to grab the mans wrist and prevent him from finishing him off.

They both struggled like that for a moment, Itami desperately trying to keep the man from stabbing his neck, while the man didn't even seem to be shaking from the struggle. Slowly and methodically the knife came down, Itami unable to overpower the man. Suddenly it stopped and the man took one hand off the knife to touch a radio on his shoulder. Itami thought he could overpower this man now but even with one hand the stranger was still able to hold it in one spot.

Itami distinctly heard the man speaking English, though Itami doesn't know English well at all he does remember what the language sounds like from English class in school.

The man stood up and pulled the knife away from Itami. The last thing the Officer saw was a boot to the face.

* * *

"So why call us back from the fight?" The Courier asked, his armor dirty from the assault that happened only hours ago. Since they were given the order to withdraw and return to base, the Courier wanted to find out the reason from the Colonel.

"Enemy units began exiting that gate that's there, meaning that we had no idea what they were capable of. This entire assault was meant to test the enemies capabilities and it has worked to our advantage perfectly." The Colonel said with a powerful voice.

"I see, so this was to see what they would be capable of doing. But I have a feeling there's more to this situation than simply them attacking our Vertibird." The Courier deduced.

"Of course." The Colonel gave a warm smile. "The NCR has been unable to expand its borders since the Alliance was formed, and even the Brotherhood has been wanting an a permanent base of operations outside of NCR borders. This engagement was primarily to see if we could successfully engage and defeat this new enemy. Since we were under-stocked I didn't want to occupy that hill and defend it from an enemy counter attack. Maybe when we gain enough forces, but our numbers are too small right now. That was just to see if we could defeat them and so far it's looking promising. This enemy is using weapons that have been outdated since the Cold War days in the old world, so with our updated technology we should be able to easily defeat them." Colonel Few said.

"Imperial expansion no doubt." The Courier said.

"What did they call it in the old world, Manifest Destiny?" The Colonel asked. "We'll defeat the Legion and this other army and claim this land under the Alliance. It will be divided up fairly of course, but we can't pass up this place." He motioned to the area around them. "A whole world that is free of the wasteland, free from destruction and radiation. It's perfect." He said.

"Assuming of course that we don't one day build nukes." The Courier said plainly.

"We will learn the lessons from our ancestors Courier, don't worry. we'll ensure a humane conquest and avoid using any unauthorized weapons, as per NCR policies of war." He said.

"Fair enough." The Courier said.

Perhaps by old world standards this may seem harsh and cruel, but when your society has been born from the depths of a nuclear hell, you can actually thank God that the Alliance is as civilized as it is. Just as when old world America was first expanding its borders, so to is the Alliance.

The Courier cared little about the NCRs goals to expand its borders. In the days of the war he chose to side with Mr. House because of the future he could create and returning society to its old ways. The man may have been a bit cold and calculated, but in some ways that's perfect for a small independent state like Vegas. Nothing to impede progress as he said, as long as the state was small a single dictatorship is fine in itself.

As a Courier, he is very familiar with the power a simple message can be. A simple message can wipe out an entire society, as he learned by traveling to the Divide. A simple delivery changed the fate of the Mohave, a fate born from two bullets. The message that will be delivered to this world will surely change it forever.

* * *

Itami woke up with a pounding headache. The previous events still in his mind but he was in too much pain to really move. His limbs felt like they were bruised and his face felt a bit swollen. He tentatively opened his eyes and looked around, finding himself in the medical tent. He sat up and tried to figure out exactly what happened last night.

"Sir, you must rest." He heard a voice near him. It was one of the nurses, Kurakawa.

"What happened?" Itami asked.

"We were attacked by those soldiers in tan clothing." She said calmly, trying not to freak him out.

"I know that." Itami said sternly. "What I mean is what happened to the soldiers out there." Itami said. Kurakawa could not look directly at him.

Itami finally took in his surroundings, the entire tent was completely full. Some soldiers were lucky enough to be on stretchers, but most were laying on the ground since there was very little room. There were body bags outside the door that were everywhere, being prepared to be sent back home for burial.

"The enemy nearly wiped us out, we've lost over 3,000 soldiers in that offensive." She said solemnly.

Itami was at a loss for words. You see, the JSDF is not like the U.S. Military in that they know what war is really like. The JSDF has never seen war and the only ones who have ever died in their ranks have been on training accidents are criminal incidents. Occasionally the JSDF would see action in trying to quell civil unrest, but they have never seen a tragedy of this scale. Even the Americans have not lost thousands of men in one battle since the 2nd World War. For the first time since World War 2, Japan has suffered a horrible loss on the battlefield.

Itami felt sick to his stomach, holding back his bottling emotions. Fear, anger, sorrow, rage... all bubbling up to the surface.

Slowly falling back into his pillow, Itami's exhausted mind forced him to sleep again.

 **End Chapter 2**

Yea, really deviated from the original story here haha.

As for keeping the original JSDF plot, well I wanted to do something unique compared to the whole "Switching out civilizations" cliche. I do love originality. Plus, how would a modern Japan react to a barbaric post-apocalyptic world? Sure, they can easily stomp the empire to dust, but the NCR and allies are a lot stronger than that. In many ways they're stronger than the JSDF. I'm hoping I can keep it interesting haha.


	3. Chapter 3: Blood Under the Rising Sun

**Chapter 3: Blood Under the Rising Sun**

 _"This is news reporter Inoichi Sakura with an update on JSDF forces in the Special Region. Current news from the area shows that the JSDF outpost in the Special Region was attacked by an army bearing striking resemblance to U.S. soldiers. Additionally there are reports that they were speaking English and using American weapons. When asked about if there are any U.S. soldiers in the Special Region, the President denied any American involvement in the Special Region._

 _With over 3,000 JSDF personnel killed beyond the Gate, there has been an outcry of protest against the JSDFs involvement in the Special Region. Mass protest of citizens trying to get the Gate closed and destroyed before this new threat can get through the Gate._

 _When asked about future operations past the Gate, the Prime Minister had this to say..."_

* * *

 _"We will not allow ourselves to be threatened by this enemy who would attack us without warning or reason. We will begin sending more soldiers through into the Special Region and stop this army from threatening the Japanese public again. The United States has graciously donated some of their heavily armored vehicles and weapons in order to combat this threat. Additionally, they have allowed some of their F-22 Fighter Pilots permission to move through the Gate in order to aid us in this battle. We will show this enemy that the Japanese people will always negotiate for peace, but will never tolerate violence or murder of our people. When pushed we will do whatever it takes to win the day. I thank our allies, the Americans, for their generous contribution and aid, and hope that we can end this threat before it can take more Japanese lives._

 _As for our pledge to forever renounce war, we will abide by that pledge. This is not a war, but self defense against a tyrant that would see us murdered. Our Self Defense Force is still not a regular army, but they will do what they were created to do, use force in order to defend the Japanese people from threats that would see us harmed..."_

* * *

 _"There has been a storm of controversy in light of the Prime Ministers decision to fight, many have sided with him and believe that this threat must be combated. However, many citizens, including the international community, feels as though Japan is overstepping their bounds and waging a war without legally amending Article 9 of the Constitution._

 _And that's all the news we have for you now, this is Inoichi Sakura, signing off..."_

* * *

 **3 Days Later**

 _"Dealer 6, this is Dealer 5, we're in front of phase line purple, break. Ready to assault position, over."_ Itami said into his radio at a very low tone. After the initial assault by this unknown force, the JSDF immediately mobilized forces to do a counter-attack on the enemy command position. Currently, Itami was the PLT Leader of an Infantry unit, since man-power was low every officer needed to be put in combat roles for this operation.

 _"Dealer 5, this is Dealer 6, we're still preparing for the assault and will give you the command in 30 Mikes, break. When ARTY begins firing to degrade the threat combat power you will cross phase line purple and breach phase line black, how copy, over?"_ Itami's Commander reported back over the minor static of the radio.

 _"Dealer 6, this is Dealer 5, solid copy. We will wait here until further instructions, over."_ Itami said, making sure to keep his body as low to the ground as possible.

Itami was currently laying in the prone position with his weapon pointing down range, making sure that he stayed as low to the ground so as not to give away his position. The moon was still mostly full and provided enough light to see without night vision goggles, but it also made it easier to get spotted if they weren't careful. Itami did another check of his weapon to ensure that there was a round in the chamber and the magazine was firmly locked in the well.

Phase line Purple is located at the barb wire barrier preventing access into the main enemy positions. Phase line Black is where the enemies machine-gun nests are located. Thanks to the reconnaissance given by recon elements 24 hours prior to the operation, the JSDF managed to get exact grid coordinates to use their artillery assets in order to remove obstacles and degrade the combat power of the enemy, in other words kill them.

Itami has a squad of engineers attached to the PLT, who are in charge of removing obstacles that the artillery misses. Engineers are armed with explosives and other devices so that they can remove just about any conceivable obstacle in the way.

The entire area was completely open and there was almost no cover or concealment. It was going to be an extremely dangerous assault on the enemies objective but Itami knew that every soldier in the JSDF wanted a chance to get some righteous payback for what those animals did. Every man here, including the young XO, was ready to die if that meant stopping this enemy from attacking Japan.

"All elements, move up." Itami said as his PLT began to low crawl further towards the objective in a slow and methodical pace.

The PLT was broken up into 3 squads, each squad consisting of 9 soldiers. 1st Squad took the lead by being the first squad to advance on the enemy position, and they would also be the first ones to engage the enemy. 2nd Squad would stay back and re-enforce as necessary, either to provide cover fire in a retreat, flank the enemy, or move up and strengthen their combat power. Itami, as the PLT Leader would remain with 3rd Squad, giving out orders to the PLT and covering the rear and flanks of the formation. Along phase line Purple, every Infantry Company and PLT was doing this very same thing.

The soldiers stayed a good 300 Meters from PL Purple in order to stay safe from the artillery rounds that will create breaches in the barb wires. The American F-22 Raptors that were attached to the JSDF will attack from the skies, as well as dropping smoke bombs along PL Black in order to protect against those machine-gun nests. The JSDF Commanders are expecting large casualties, but if they don't act now then they run the risk of being attacked again.

 _"Dealer 5, this is Dealer 6, ARTY attack is beginning, advance the signal is given, over."_ The Commander said over the radio. Itami returned his acknowledgment and prepared for the attack.

There was a loud boom in the direction of the JSDF base, followed by the explosion on the barbed wires and machine-gun nests. The artillery shells were relatively small, but with the accurate information given by their scouts it was extremely effective. Through his NVGs, Itami watched as soldiers ran around in panic and confusion from the assault.

The sight was amazing in a way, the sound was not as loud as it should have been, but that was because Itami had his ear plugs in to protect his hearing from the loud sounds of the battlefield. His clear shooting glasses began to fog up very slightly, but not enough to interfere with his sight. The green hew from his NVGs almost began to hurt his left eye from the contrast of dark and bright areas.

The roaring sound of jets filled the sky as F-22 Raptors flew in over the mountains, launching their missiles and bombs along the enemy positions, before turning around and flying over the mountains again, getting ready for a second run.

After 10 minutes the artillery stopped, and the order was given to attack. Itami ordered 1st Squad to engage the enemy objective before they can regain their senses. The soldiers jumped to their feet and charged. Five Infantry Companies all engaged the enemy, charging and screaming as they did so. Flares were launched into the sky by the enemy in order to illuminate the battlefield, forcing Itami to remove his NVGs.

While most of the machine-gun nests were destroyed, others managed to survive and began engaging the JSDF. There were nearly 1,000 JSDF soldiers that engaged the enemy, which outnumbers the amount of initial defenders by 3 to 1. Although re-reinforcements from the main area will be coming to re-enforce their defensive positions, Command is hoping that they can take PL Black before they are able to do so.

Itami swore under his breath as he saw some of his soldiers fall and not get back up. Most were able to survive thanks to their body armor, but some here hit in areas that would be fatal. Soldiers from the rear of the formation were firing their light machine-guns in order to suppress the enemies positions, but it's effect was minor since their positions were so well entrenched.

"2nd Squad, move forward and support 1st Squad!" Itami yelled into his personal squad radio, which he later heard his soldiers saying roger.

2nd Squad immediately got up and began rushing the defensive positions. Typically you want to use your reserve element to flank while the forward one is distracting the enemy, but since this was a large scale formation attack, the only way to fight is move forward.

"Why are you stopping!" Itami yelled, noticing that his PLT stopped and went prone, refusing to move forwards. Soldiers were getting cut down by fire and they were freezing up. "Fuck this!" Itami yelled, which was very unlike him. He stood up and ran towards the ongoing battle, much to the protest of his remaining squad.

Itami ran as fast as he possibly could, barely keeping his balance as all his equipment and armor moved around, throwing off his balance slightly. His heels began to slightly burn from rubbing against his boot, making Itami wish that he would've broken these boots in prior to going, but he had no choice seeing as how a lot of their stuff was badly damaged. He occasionally had to hop over a dead or dying man, trying hard not to think about what was going on. He tried to keep his thoughts buried for now so he can focus on the battle at hand.

Covering the 300 Meters in his own record time, Itami immediately got prone and began talking to the 1st Squad Leader. The man's eyes were wide with fear, clearly this was his first time in combat, much like every other JSDF soldier. None of them have ever seen real combat or experienced anything like this. Training can only do so much to prepare you for the horrors of war. Itami silently gave respect to the European and American armies for being able to handle situations like these.

"Why have you stopped moving?!" Itami yelled over the loud gunfire, and fighting to hear the Sergeant despite his earplugs.

"Sir, we're pinned down and we can't advance. Enemy firepower is too great and we can't advance!" The Sergeant yelled.

"Listen!" Itami lightly grabbed his shoulder. "If we don't stop this enemy then Japan will be in great danger. We are not fighting for ourselves here, or our lives. We come from a long line of great warriors, the Samurai. We'd shame our ancestors and put our families in needless danger if we don't take this position!" Itami said with motivation.

Normally Itami is a very lazy person, not really caring too much about his job. Hell, he'd give the JSDF up in a heartbeat if he can't continue his hobbies. But now was different, now he has a reason for being here other than pursuing his hobbies.

The screaming, the men who needlessly died because of a cowardice enemy who attacked them for no reason... Itami could not just let that go. He will never let something like that go unpunished or without reason. If these enemies threaten his home, his fellow soldiers, then Itami will do whatever it takes to win.

"Roger sir!" The Sergeant yelled at the top of his voice, his eyes now soaring with inspiration and courage. Thanks to Itami's words, he could die right here and now and feel no shame in it.

Itami stood up and charged the position himself, not looking back to see if his PLT followed. Sure enough, they did. Though Itami didn't see it, the entire PLT was running with him, their weapons at the ready and faces fixed in a position of anger and determination. Their battle cry was one that would make their ancestors proud, a war cry that would even make the Americans stand in awe.

Itami and his men managed to make it to the machine-gun nests. Their suppressive fire was now accurate enough to prevent the gun crews from even aiming or firing. Some even found their way into the nests and hit the tan soldiers. Itami shot at a soldier that tried to flee the nest, hitting him square in the back. The 7.62mm round easily managed to go through their light armor and kill the man.

With the sky once again filled with the roar of F-22s, the planes began to drop smoke bombs along the area in order to protect friendly forces from returning enemy fire. The entire field was covered in a massive white cloud of smoke that made visibility impossible for the enemy. The smell of sulfur and burning gas filled the air and managed to overpower the smell of burning flesh.

BOOM!

Suddenly, Itami was blinded by an incredibly bright light. For a moment his vision went away and he couldn't make out anything in front of him. Even with the ear plugs his hearing began to ring from the massive explosion that occurred right in front of him.

When his vision regained, Itami swore that he saw a nuclear explosion directly in front of him. At first he couldn't tell the distance and logically assumed it was happening far away, but he then noticed that it hit his own soldiers. The mushroom cloud was small, only the size of an average tree. But the destruction was total. Soldiers all within a dozen meters were incinerated from the blast, others were laying on the ground in agony from the massive sound, their hearing gone from the unforgiving sound. Some men managed to survive with severe burns and missing limbs.

There was nothing, nothing in the arsenals of the world that could compare to a nuclear weapon that small. To be able to produce something so small, that a small army could effectively deploy...

BOOM!

Another one went off near Itami, even closer than before. He knew this was a failed assault, they have no defense against something like that. Once more there was no tell tale signs of their use. Itami could barely make out a bomb flying through the air, but it was hard to even see in the darkness and bright lights of the flares. There was no smoke trail to the firer, no direction from a rocket. It just kind of fell onto the battlefield like a baseball.

"All units, withdraw!" Itami yelled, signalling his men to get out of the danger zone. There was no way that they could win this battle now that they know what the enemy is capable of. More and more of those bombs were going off and killing more soldiers. If they didn't leave now than they'd all be killed. Better to regain their senses and fight another day than die needlessly in a suicide mission.

Itami knelt down and picked up a JSDF soldier that was severely injured from a gunshot wound to the stomach, just under his armor. Itami put him into a fireman carry and began running away from the danger zone, followed by everyone else.

Once again this army humiliated the JSDF. Their first battle since WW2, and the JSDF were getting pushed around like small children. Itami now truly began to fear what the future may hold.

* * *

"We've lost most of our obstacle emplacements on our northern defensive positions, we lost an additional 2,000 men in the conflict. We've also nearly exhausted our supply of Fat-man nukes and many of our supply tents were destroyed by those flying planes." An NCR Captain began giving the after battle report to the Colonel. The Courier stayed in the back, simply listening to the exchange of information.

"How the hell do they possess those things?" The Colonel asked the man.

"We don't know, intelligence initially suggested all they had were Vertibirds sir. If we didn't have our supply of Fat-man's, I'd highly doubt we would have been able to repel that assault." The Captain said.

"Even in the old world, we had nothing that could move that fast or was that high tech." Mr. House said from his securitron.

Mr. House was unable to follow into the gate initially until he set up relay equipment to allow his signal to broadcast into Elysium. Since then he's been a major help in planning for the Alliance.

"Do you have any way to defend against those?" The Colonel asked.

"I could refit some of my old defenses for the lucky 38, it was used to destroy falling atomic bombs so it's safe to say that it will be able to defend against those aircraft. Even then, without aircraft of our own we'd quickly lose dominance in the skies and that would put us at a severe disadvantage." House reasoned.

"Do you think the Brains can help us develop something?" The Courier asked Mr. House.

"Unlikely, they get far too distracted on their own schemes to ever build something of use. They easily lose focus on projects they care little for. Even then there is nothing in the old world that can match those aircraft. It could take months, even years of research to build an aircraft that can compete with that. By then the enemy would have already upgraded their previous models." House said.

"What about land defenses?" The Colonel asked. "Can you build something that can be transported on land that can defend against those things?" The Colonel asked.

"As I said, my older model defenses should prove adequate, I'd also be able to upgrade certain models for use. It wouldn't be a permanent fix but it would buy us time." Mr. House said confidently. "I'll admit, I'm no military strategist, I've always been a business man and a negotiator by trade. I'll draw up some designs and should have them presented by the end of the week. I'll also start sending my own personal defenses to Elysium in order to protect your home base, however it's range will be limited without satellite's in the region. You'll have a 3 kilometer umbrella of protection for now, not much but it should protect your main base." Mr. House offered.

"We'll also need more soldiers." The Courier chimed in. "We've taken a large hit on personnel here. Send word to our reserve forces and get them here now. We'll also need our elite units, such as the Rangers and Remnants." The Colonel agreed and began to write down notes in a little booklet.

"We'll also need to deal with the Legion." Mr. House changed the subject.

"About that..." The Colonel began. "Recent reports suggests this isn't Caesars Legion." He said.

"I've had suspicions." The Courier said. "But if not them, then who. Five years is a long time, they could have industrialized if they began salvaging pre-war tech. Caesar was no fool." He reasoned.

"True, but his psychology doesn't match." Mr. House said. "I understand that psychological operations no longer exist as they did in the pre-war era, but make no mistake I assure you that's impossible. Caesar was a brilliant man, but was always held back by his own flawed views of the world. Even without him, every other Legionary are tribals. Even the minds of men like Vulpes Inculta are primitive to the ways of pre-war industry." He explained. "But back on topic, who is this enemy?" Mr. House "Turned" to the Colonel.

"Our scouts have given interesting reports. They have no pre-war weapons at all. Even the Legion used rifles and power armor. But nothing, it's all swords and spears. Their metals are of a high and fine quality, but nothing like the synthetic materials we have. It's not as crude as our metals, but as fine a quality as it is, it's very primitive in it's uses. I believe this Legion like force is native to these lands, and have no affiliation to the Legion in the Wastes." The Colonel reasoned.

"So aside from this enemy in green uniforms..." Mr. House began. "Our enemy is nothing more than a weak tribal entity that would stand no chance against us?" The Colonel nodded.

"Manifest Destiny, our sovereign right to take this land and its resources for ourselves." The Colonel said. "The kind of settlements we could make here, free from radiation and sickness. Free from the mutants and horrors from the wastelands. We could truly colonize this place and create a brighter future for the Alliance." He said with confidence.

"Much like the America of old." The Courier chimed in. "Even before the ideals of communism and capitalism, it was America's destiny to tame the west, and make it submit under it's rule. Much like the mother land, Britain."

"I'm impressed, you've read some of the books I gave you." Mr. House said his approval. "But think of the possibilities. With the untapped materials and resources of this world, I can greatly expand the development of modern civilization. Men is space in ten years? Please, I can make it three years with this." The Colonel began nodding in approval.

"It would be a nice place to retire too, the lush green fields and the clear blue sky. I may even have my daughter and her children live out here with me." He smiled at the thought.

"What about the people?" The Courier asked. "Need I remind you that the NCR has had... less than ethical ways of getting people to submit in the past?" He said, referring to much of the criticism that still surrounds the NCR, even today.

"We will be humane in our efforts, we will provide for civilians and treat the population with dignity. We will also try to avoid unnecessary casualties as well." The Colonel assured the hero of the Mohave.

"The Colonel has a trustworthy reputation Courier." Mr. House said. "And the madame President has always been very popular with how she deals with war crimes, specifically the execution of General Oliver for his many crimes." The Courier nodded at this.

"So be it." He said finally. "But I have a request." He turned to the NCR CO.

"Yes?" The Colonel asked, expecting something somewhat troublesome.

"I'd like to do some scouting myself. If this land is anything like what Caesar made east of the Mohave, I'd like to deal with that corruption personally. Additionally, I'd like to handle any negotiations with the local settlements and make the first impressions for the Alliance. Do you object?"

It was funny for the Courier to ask question like that. Would the Colonel reject a request from the most powerful man in the history of the west coast? Not likely. Actually, he'd prefer the Courier taking the initiative and making first contact. He always had a way with people, both in intimidation and charisma.

The Courier was a strange man. He traveled the length of the Mohave to gain revenge on a man who shot him in the head. In doing so he began to unify the Mohave until it was strong enough to defeat the Legion with minimal casualties. He even managed to defeat the Legate Lanius with nothing more than his words. Though the Legate still lives, he was shamed by Caesar for his retreat from the Dam. The Courier defeated the greatest warrior in the wasteland with nothing more than a silver tongue and one hell of voice.

Though the Courier was a man of the people, he was not really a true saint. He cared little for the NCRs conquests of the Mohave, in fact he only aided Mr. House because he liked the idea of the old world returning. Truthfully, had Mr. House not had such plans for the future, The Courier may have just ended his life right then and there. The Courier did strive for peace, but he was also a somewhat cruel man. Cruel to his enemies, a saint to those who he considered innocent.

"You have my permission." The Colonel said.

With that the meeting was over, and the Courier set out to scout out the regions and make first contact with the local villages in the area.

 **End Chapter 3**

So, next week (16 September) I'll be gone for about a month. No internet, no computer, I won't even have a cell phone. Obviously, updates will be severely slowed down haha. So sorry, but you'll have to wait for late October for a new chapter.

Anyway, I know I've been switching POVs a lot but now it's going to be a lot less. The Courier is intended to be the main character here and I only did POV switches (Which I admit I hate) because I wanted to set the story. So, that will significantly slow down haha.

Anyway, sorry for the delay coming up and thanks for all the reviews.


	4. Chapter 4: Contact

**Chapter 4: Contact**

The Courier prepared himself for the scouting mission with a bit more weapons than he normally carried. The armor of that green army actually made him worry slightly, capable enough to block an assault rifle round but capable of being mass produced to every soldier. Although pre-war combat armor performed similarly, if not better than what the green army has, it certainly is better than current NCR armor, which can only stop pistol rounds effectively. Although pre-war combat armor wasn't rare, the NCR could not mass produce enough of them for their army just yet, instead going with a cheaper option. After all, why invest in advanced armor when our enemies primarily use machetes and melee weapons?

"I hope you've been doing your studying." Mr. House said from his Securitron, coming up behind the Courier as he was preparing for the journey.

"Japanese... it's a strange language. Even Latin has similarities with English, but Japanese is so vastly different." The Courier said, swallowing some pills for his journey.

"Be careful on overusing Mentats, they'll help you learn the language better but you can still get addicted. Lord only knows why you trust those brains to upgrade a drug like that." Mr. House said with slight disgust.

"These are significantly better, gave me the ability to learn the language in record time. I may not be fluent in it but it does have it's uses for communication with the enemy. Besides, the Alliance doesn't trust the brains. Can't blame them really, but they've done me good so who's to complain." The Courier said simply, feeling the stronger Mentats increase his overall intelligence and memory. "Although I think I did get addicted again, do you have any fixer?" The Courier asked.

"Let me just reach into my pocket, because clearly I can't go anywhere without them." Mr. House said in his usual ass hole of an attitude. Though the Courier respected the old business man, he did have a distaste for his bad attitude.

"No need to be a dick House." The Courier said. "It wasn't easy learning two languages in that short amount of time."

"Yes, although this new Empire has a language very similar to modern Latin. It's not all that different, though much of the uses and phrases are different. I guess it's more like a new dialect than the same thing. Not all that different in how English or Spanish share similarities with each other." The Businessman said with a bit of thought. "However you should be able to communicate with the locals with minor difficulty. I wish you the best." He said.

"Not coming out there with me?" The Courier asked. "I'd think you'd jump at the chance to go out." Mr. House just scoffed.

"It would be a bad idea to go parading a Securitron around in a society that barely has an understanding of the wheel. Not to mention my communications equipment can't reach that far yet. I'm still having additional antennas being brought in from Vegas. Either way, I can't and won't leave just yet. Maybe soon, but I have other obligations here as well, such as organizing defenses and my own technology. Can't have the NCR get their grubby hands on my generous donations." Mr. House almost smirked to himself.

"Never knew generous was in your vocabulary." The Courier laughed. "I'll be seeing you then old man." He turned and began walking out of the improvised gate.

"Good luck Courier." Mr. House said.

The Courier was dressed in his usual Desert Ranger outfit, though he did have a bit of additional armor in case he encountered resistance. Along with his usual equipment he also brought a U.S. Army issued Assault Rifle, the one's that were common during pre-war America. It was decent for close encounters and he could put more lead in the air than his pistols or his Hunting Rifle.

The Courier kept his gas mask on, preferring to use intimidation to prevent most engagements. He did prefer to avoid trouble, and sometimes the best way is to scare the daylights out of your enemy. He even loved how unique his helmet was, the green lenses and the "Forgive Me Mama" that was scratched onto his helmet. There were legends of his mother, how he either lost her in a terrible way or accidentally killed her. Not that the Courier remembered who his parents were, but he did like a lot of the myths about him.

The Courier checked his Pitboy for an update on his surroundings. Without Vault-Tech maps of the area, he had to rely on an experimental technology that the brains developed for him. It accurately mapped the area around him, by using a kind of electro-magnetic sonar to create a map of the area. This way he can easily track where he has been and get an idea of his surroundings. The technology was limited though, it can only use a line of sight area, so hills and even trees severely limited range. Additionally, even in open areas the signal can only go out 500 Meters.

So far the area was a combination of dense forests and open clearings. Occasional hills and uneven terrain dotted the landscape, and a few dirt roads that most likely led to local towns or villages. The area around the green army was well known and mapped by NCR and native scouts from Joshua's tribes. Though they were not good when it came to war or operating technology, they were on the same level as Rangers, even surpassing most Rangers in their reconnaissance skills.

The Courier stopped for a moment when he saw a village come up in his view. He was on top of a hill that had enough vegitation to conceal him, but also just barely overlook the village so he can clearly see most of it. It was a simple village, nothing really special for what was expected in Elysium. Tribals going about their lives in a very normal fashion. If the villagers had guns he'd almost swear that it looked like an average small town in NCR territory. Aside from the green environment and hand built houses of course.

Although, many of the villagers were flocking to the center of the village, near an old well. The Courier pulled out his scoped hunting rifle and looked through his scope. The Villagers were speaking with some of the soldiers in the green army. Focusing on one of the soldiers, he spotted an interesting sight. That soldier that he encountered during the first battle. The one he spared when they were given the orders to retreat. The Courier was always a God fearing man, and he knew that something like this couldn't be mere coincidence.

He looked at the other soldiers as well. Two female, one who looked very sweet and motherly, while the other one looked to be young. There were some average aged men and some that were older, clearly the senior leaders of the group. Although it seemed that one soldier was in charge, the one he fought. It's easy to tell since he did a lot of gestures you'd associate with a leader. Leaders love to point after all. He's probably an officer or a prodigy, much like how the Courier is.

The Courier was curious to test how this new enemy fought. He didn't have too much time to really test it out during the battles, after all, it's important to know how your enemy fights.

Taking the safety off of his hunting rifle, he prepared to take a shot. He wanted to see how this enemy reacted to a sniper in a strategic position. See if they would be able to flush him out or run away. He had the advantage of height, and the vegetation helped to conceal him. Clearly the enemies camouflage worked better than his tan outfit, but it would work well enough here.

Normally you'd want to shoot the officers, but that would destroy the purpose of this test. He instead chose a more likely target, the young girl in the group. She was probably not very experienced and wouldn't affect the unit as a whole. However, seeing the young girl dead or injured would test their resolve and courage in the face of danger.

The Courier took aim at her chest, hoping to kill her quickly with a blow to the heart. With a steady breath and smooth squeeze of the trigger, the weapon fired. The girl shook violently as she fell to the ground, landing right on her back. Her comrades yelled in alarm and turned in the direction of the shot, and began firing into the tree line as they moved for cover. Some of the soldiers grabbed civilians and moved them into cover as well. The civilians all ran away from the town center and into their homes.

Surprisingly, the girl got up and ran for cover as well, as if she was only knocked down by a punch and not a .308. That settles it, their armor is good enough to stop a .308 round. It was almost surprising.

Although bullets whizzed around him, he knew this was just a suppression tactic. Trying to make him duck down or move, but the Courier managed to control his primal instinct to run. This brought up another fact, this enemy clearly had rounds to spare. Not even the modern PA would waste ammunition like that, even though it was now being mass produced, ammo was still scarce in the wasteland. Even for large armies like the Brotherhood or NCR. These soldiers were clearly well trained so they must have a strong industrial complex to be able to waste ammo like this.

Even as they got into cover the shooting did not cease, half fired while the other half began moving forward. This bounding tactic was meant to maintain positive control over the situation while allowing the others to move forward. As one team moved the other fired, then they switched. They were indeed well trained.

The courier crawled away from his last position, wanting to gain another advantage point over the enemy. He ran to another point on the hill, one that looked at the enemy from their flanks. This way he was out of the line of fire and had a clear advantage over them.

Wanting to do another test he took out his Assault Rifle and began to fire it on fully automatic. The enemy took shots in semi-automatic mode to help conserve ammunition, but the Courier fired full auto in random bursts to give the illusion that there was more than one soldiers attacking them.

As expected the green enemies turned and fired in his direction, but instead of advancing the withdrew back into cover, now worried about their flanks. All shooting stopped and they began to talk among themselves to formulate a new strategy. The Officer made some more pointing gestures and his team began to move to their vehicles, all the while keeping their weapons trained in the Couriers direction.

The soldiers got in and left, not willing to risk their lives against an unknown enemy. Clearly they were a recon element, and recon never engages the enemy unless they have too. It was risky to take the sniper, but against another squad, typical doctrine states that you brake contact and link up with a superior fighting element in order to re-engage later. The Courier was surprised at how well they were trained. He could easily tell they lack battlefield experience, most likely this is their first engagement. But their training is good enough to where they reacted to a threat quickly and efficiently.

Surprisingly, the enemy didn't go in the direction of their main base but continued further away, with rapid speed. The Courier could not pursue them at this point, since he was on foot and they were in vehicles, but he decided to go down into the town in order to meet the locals and get an idea of the potential resources this village could give.

* * *

The entire town was empty when the Courier entered it. Not surprising considering the people were scared and ran indoors. The Courier began writing down notes in a little booklet of all the potential value this village could have. The name was "Coda Village", which was displayed on a small sign. It was in a relatively open area with a small river running on the side of the village, which would be good for drinking water and other resources.

In the corner of his eye, the Courier saw a young girl, and a relatively young woman next to her, most likely the young girls mother. She was on the ground and clutched her ankle, moaning lightly in pain. The young girl tried to get her mother to move but the pain in the mothers ankle prevented her from walking. She was most likely sprained or had a broken ankle, which probably happened in the confusion of the battle. She either stepped on it wrong as she ran or got stepped on by the fleeing villagers.

She turned towards the Courier, fear in her eyes at the demonic looking man. Slowly, the Courier made his way to her, trying to move without sudden movements or anything that could potentially scare the family. Knowing that his gas mask made his significantly scarier than normal, the Courier took it off to reveal his face.

The mother pushed at her daughter, trying to make her run away so she wouldn't be taken by the demonic man. The little girl refused, instead clinging to her mother more so than before, trying desperately to stay with her.

When the Courier reached her, the mother took her daughter in her arms and held her tightly. She refused to let her go now and stared at the man with fear in her eyes. In her mind, someone who would chase away a kind group of mercenaries must be nothing short of barbaric.

The Courier took out a doctors bag and began to take out some equipment. He gently took hold of the mothers ankle and took off her shoe, revealing a swollen ankle that began to turn red. Although she winced in pain, the mother was petrified with fear and could not move or react. Her daughters face was buried in her chest, completely enveloped by her mothers protective embrace.

As he thought, it was a simple sprain, nothing a Stimpack can't fix. Taking out one of the stimpacks he had, the Courier injected the needle in the bad area, causing the mother to eep in pain and surprise. Stimpacks accelerate the bodies ability to heal rapidly, a sprain that would normally take a day or two to heal would heal within the hour. Most wounds and injures can be fixed by a Stimpack in less than a day, which proves very effective when you're a lone traveler in the wasteland.

The pain in her ankle slowly began to fade, the mother stood up and limped away a bit, now capable of walking.

"Don't try to walk, you'll hurt yourself more." The Courier said in the mothers native language. She raised her eyebrow in surprise that he spoke, and his voice was very calming and gentle. Nothing like what a demon should sound like. "That needle will heel your wound but you'll need to rest for the next hour." The Courier tried to use hand gestures to get his point across. The Mentats really helped to accelerate his ability to learn and memorize the new language. Not only that, his brain was far more intelligent than most other peoples brains. Partly because it was floating in a tank for an unknown amount of time and doing research and advanced learning in a Mentats salted tube. The improved synergy gave him a very good memory, even without Mentats.

The little girl looked at the Courier with curiosity, wondering why this man decided to heal her mother. Surely if he chased away those nice people with that strange magic, then he must be evil.

Soon, some of the villagers, including what appeared to be the leader, began leaving their houses to meet the Courier. They thought that if he treated the mothers wounds than he must not be evil.

"Who are you young man?" An old man, who was likely the village leader, asked the Courier.

"I'm just a simple Courier sir." The Courier said with humility in his voice.

"Why did you chase out those men?" The village leader asked, having a bit of fear in his voice at the possible answer.

"We're at war with them, they attacked our own without warning so we defended ourselves." The Courier said, which was mostly a lie. He knew he was manipulating the truth, but having the hearts and minds of the people would give the PA an advantage against those soldiers. "Do you know who they were sir?" The Courier asked politely.

"I do not, they came into town and began asking general question. I believed them to be foreign to these lands since they don't speak our language well and have unique clothing, not unlike you." The Elder said.

"Me and my people are new to these lands as well, we're just trying to get an understanding of the land." The Courier said.

"We must insist that our village stay out of this conflict between you two, we don't have a desire to go to a war we know nothing about." The Elder pleaded to the Courier.

"Don't worry, as long as this enemy of ours poses no threat to your village we will not force you to give us support or aid." Again, the Courier said in half truths. Eventually this village would have to become a part of the PA, as with most of the lands in the area. The NCR has been growing restless, desperate to expand its borders, but the Alliance prevents that from happening since every civilization is sovereign.

"Thank you young man." The Elder sighed in relief. "You're welcome to rent a room if you so desire, and stay as long as you need too." He offered.

"I wouldn't mind that at all." The Courier smiled slightly, deciding to take the rest of the day off and maybe explore the village a bit.

* * *

"It's a little hard to breath."Shino Kuribayashi said with a bit of difficulty.

"That's not surprising Kuribayashi-chan." Kurokawa said as she took a look at the young Sergeants bruised chest. "That was a 7.62 round that hit you, the plates took most of the impact but the force still managed to bruise some of your ribs. Breathing will be difficult for a few days." The Medic said.

"How is she doing Kurokawa-chan?" LT. Itami said to the medic from the drivers seat. There was a curtain arranged to separate the back and the front, ensuring that Kuribayashi had her privacy while being looked at since she was currently topless.

"She'll be fine, but I have to recommend that she does not wear armor if we can help it. Her ribs are bruised and the body armor will make breathing difficult for her." The young medic said.

"I'm fine." The Sergeant said defiantly. "The bastard just got the drop on me." She protested.

"Our body armor is comprised of both kevlar and ceramic plates." Kurokawa said.

"No shit..." Kuribayashi muttered under her breath.

"It has no room to expand and allow for easy breathing. Normally that's not too much of an issue, but with bruised ribs it can severely restrict your ability to breath and you may pass out if you had to work. Especially in this heat." The Medic said finally.

"I agree with Kurokawa." Itami said. "Unless you leave the vehicle, you will be restricted to wearing your regular top, no body armor." Itami said with no room for protest.

"Roger sir." Kuribayashi said with a bit of venom in her voice, despising the fact that she was weak right now.

"Why did we break contact with the enemy sir?" Kurata asked Itami. "Wouldn't that leave the people of Coda Village in danger?" Itami nodded.

"Undoubtedly, but it would be even riskier if we stayed. I've already sent the report to HHC (Headquarters & Headquarters Company) so they will handle it from there. But we had no idea who we were fighting. At first I thought it was a lone sniper team, but we were nearly outflanked by a large element. We're not an infantry unit, this is reconnaissance. We can't risk getting into a fight because we don't have the size, nor the weaponry to defeat an infantry unit. Our best course of action is to inform HHC and continue on with the mission, to ensure there are no more enemy combatants in the area." Itami said.

"Understood sir." Kurata said.

"Who do you think these guys are?" Kuribayashi asked. "They're clearly not native to the Special Region." She said.

"I have a theory." Itami said. "I think they may be from another gate. Intel reported that there is a Gate in the center of their base camp, and I've even seen it during the attempted assault." Kuribayashi looked shocked.

"You were apart of that?" She asked in surprise.

Itami looked away and didn't answer, not really all that talkative about that experience. He was relived of his command after the attack, not for any dishonorable reasons. A more experienced LT was given the responsibility of leading that unit. Only reason Itami did was because they were severely lacking personnel.

Kurokawa took Kuribayashi's attention off of Itami. Although she was a medic and primarily treated physical injuries, she knew enough about people to realize when they were sad. The LT was still broken up about the failed attack, but he refused to let anyone see it. She doubted anyone was really ready for what happened. Itami couldn't have possibly imagined in his wildest dreams that he'd actually go to war. How could he? Japan has no need, nor is it allowed to even go to war. The most action the JSDF has ever gotten was civil unrest and the occasional natural disaster. Itami probably didn't even realize the implications of what may happen when they entered the gate. Just now PTSD is beginning to rise in the ranks at higher levels than the JSDF has ever had. Even senior leaders, Sergeant Majors that have been in for decades, are showing signs of PTSD. This enemy was truly terrifying.

Itami coughed into his hand a bit, and he looked into it to reveal blood. For the past few days he'd been lightly coughing out blood, which disturbed him greatly but he didn't want to worry his comrades. He knew that he should probably get it looked at by a medic, to make sure he was ok, but Itami didn't want to risk it putting him on a medical profile and having to be sent back to Japan. He wanted to stay and fight this enemy and protect his home.

"For now we'll continue with the mission." Itami said. "Make sure you keep your heads on the swivel, if you suspect there is anything wrong let me know immediately." Itami said with a bit of force, more so than his usual self.

"Roger." Everyone in the vehicle exclaimed as the recon unit made their way towards the village in the woods that the leader of Coda Village mentioned.

 **End Chapter 4**

Man, managed to knock that out quickly haha. Had a lot more free tome than I thought. As I said before, I'll be gone for a month starting next week (16 September) so I'll be unable to update the story.

Some things mentioned, some reviewers said that the Pre-war Fallout Jets were much more advanced than modern real world jets. Not true actually.

The Jets in FO3, the ones on Rivet City, were directly based off of the P-80, which was one of the first Jet Airplanes the U.S. made. Serviced in 1945, it had a top speed of 600 MPH and had very poor maneuverability due to it's poor design. It was more of a test of concept than an actual serviceable weapon. That's the only jet aircraft shown in Fallout, so it leads me to believe that Fallout aircraft are still as advanced as post-WW2 aircraft.

Also keep in mind, Fallout has a lot of technological inconsistencies. The nukes launched in 2077 were missiles, however every undetonated atomic bomb in FO3 and New Vegas were modeled after the Fatman nuke, which is dropped from a bomber, not a missile. The bomb in Megaton is not a missile warhead, but a bomb meant to be dropped by a bomber airplane. Fallout has a lot of inconsistent technology so it's a bit difficult to make a story on it haha.

Thanks for the reviews. I appreciate them. I have one request... if you criticize my writing please tell me the flaws. I completely welcome negative reviews, but they're no good if there's no explanation as to why. It helps me to fix mistakes and improve myself. Even if it's personal opinions on writing styles or story choices, please let me know. I appreciate the time you guys take to write these reviews.


	5. Chapter 5: Treve de Noel

**Chapter 5: Treve de Noel**

The Courier was currently sitting on the edge of the well, the morning sun bearing down on his helmet-less head. His black hair absorbing the suns heat and making the top of his head feel warm and insulated. Of course, growing up and living in a desert his whole life, this was literally nothing to him. It was just a nice bit of warmth to counter act the chilly night.

His Pip-Boy began to tick, showing that he is currently being irradiated by the food he was eating, which was a Salisbury Steak. Although the food here in Elysium was fresh, it was recommended that they continue eating their standard foods since there was no guarantee that the food would not have diseases or other viruses that the wastelander's had no defenses against. Going into a new area, with new diseases, was always very dangerous. They could easily cure radiation, a new kind of disease however was unlikely.

Some of the kids in the village were curiously trying to eat the steak, however the Courier shooed them away every time. You don't have to be a brain to know that giving irradiated food to kids who were never exposed to radiation was bad. However if you were a brain you'd give the food to the kids and experiment on their lobotomized brains. The Courier chuckled to himself about the dark little joke he made.

Most of the villagers here were still un-trusting of him, preferring the men in green over him. Although the Courier was significantly nicer than they originally thought, he wasn't the most social of individuals, which is understandable considering his mostly solitary lifestyle. He was never good at interacting with people unless it was strictly business.

A column of dust in the distance got the Couriers attention. Quickly finishing his last bite, the young man got his helmet back on and brought out his Rifle. He looked through the scope and saw the vehicles of the green army, the same variations of that unit he attacked earlier. Surely they'd return with a larger force than what he previously saw.

The Courier intentionally stay because he wanted to see how they would react long term as well. Typically it's smart to return to the area with a much larger force, such as an Infantry unit or even fire at him with Artillery (If they were willing to sacrifice innocent lives). The location was perfect as well. The Courier is intentionally using the village as a kind of shield. If the enemy alters their plans in order to prevent loss of innocent life then he'd know exactly what kind of enemy they are. If they destroy the village with no care, again that gives him an idea of their mentality.

He only saw the recon unit so there must be a larger force right behind them, they're probably using the recon unit as bait to draw him out. For now he'd simply find a place to hide and observe the situation.

The Courier ducked behind some boxes that was next to a store near the well, making sure to keep any part of his body hidden from the enemies view. The lead vehicle stopped near the well and the leader of the convoy got out. The Courier was slightly surprised to see the Officer from before step out.

"Kuribayashi, stay inside." The Officer said to one of his subordinates. "You're still hurt from earlier." The Courier heard protest from inside the vehicle. The Officer just sighed and shut the door, cutting the protests. "Everyone, weapons at the ready, we can't afford to get ambushed again." He ordered.

All the soldiers kept their weapons ready, pointing in all direction while they all stayed near cover. They were very good at it, managing to keep every direction in their view, able to react and engage in mere seconds. The Courier was impressed, they clearly had good training.

He counted 12 soldiers, most outside of their vehicles, three were still in the drivers seats of the three vehicles, and one was on that main machine-gun of the armored one. There was, of course, the one who was still inside and not allowed to leave. The Courier did the math in his head, 7 immediate threats with one on that machine-gun. If he was going to take them out he'd do it quick.

"I know this is dangerous men..." The leader said. "But we have to take the risk in order to warn these people." This stopped the Courier for a second. Warn? Warn them of what exactly.

After a few minutes, the leader was speaking to the village elder, and from what he gathered there was a dragon of some kind in the area. This spooked the towns people greatly and many of them were talking about evacuating and running away. So this new enemy had a soft spot for civilians, willing to risk getting destroyed by the enemy in order to warn the population of the impending danger. Either that, or this is just because of the moral conscious of one individual Officer.

The Courier knew that if this dragon thing was enough to scare the enemy, it could pose a serious threat to the PA. Many Ranger patrols have said that the dragons have very hard scaled armor, that rivals power armor in some ways. The scales are nearly as strong as power armor material, but it's significantly thinner, which is the reason it's relatively easy to pierce with their larger caliber weapons.

As the old saying goes, enemy of my enemy. The Courier figured this would be temporary of course, he would just need to gather information on this dragon while the enemy is trying to protect the villagers. Different goals but all in the same direction. It would also give him the chance to work alongside the enemy to figure out how they operate. He took out his .45, loaded one round into the chamber, and re-holstered it.

The Courier stood up form behind his concealed position and began walking to the group.

"Stop! Hands where I can see them!" He heard someone yell, which was one of the soldiers. The soldier took aim while two others went to his side, pointing their rifles at the Courier. The rest maintained their positions, making sure their entire area was guarded so they didn't get flanked. The gunner on the vehicle didn't point his weapon at the Courier though, clearly trying to avoid collateral damage with such a large weapon.

"Pops, hold fire." The leader said to his soldiers. The one in particular was an older man, which seemed to be subordinate to the young Officer. Most likely the senior non-officer leader of the group.

The Courier did not move, he stood perfectly still, just watching and analyzing their every move. They did not move either, kept their weapons perfectly centered and aimed directly at his torso. Only the Officer had his weapon lowered, if only slightly. They seemed to prefer negotiations as opposed to shooting their enemy at first contact. Perhaps the Courier should have been afraid to make this move, since if he was wrong it would have cost his life, but the Courier does not feel fear. Not like other men.

"State your name." The leader said. The Courier just blankly stared at him.

"I don't think he speaks Japanese." "Pops" said, being the voice of reason.

"What... name?" The Officer tried in the Elysium language, still no reaction from the Courier. "Name... what?" He tried again, this time in English. The Courier decided to have some fun with this.

"Non est vestrum scire nomen meum." The Courier said in Latin, a language he picked up while spending some time with the Followers.

"That doesn't sound familiar Sir." Pops said. "I think that might be Italian." He said.

"It's Latin Sir." The female soldier said. "I studied it a bit in College, he said something about his name but I didn't get the rest." She explained.

In that moment, their guard dropped very slightly. Even though their bodies didn't move, their eyes focused on the discussion between the Officer and the female soldier.

The Couriers world slowed down as he turned on VATS. Electrical signals from his Pip-Boy began to send out pulses through his arm and into his brain, greatly increasing his reaction time and perception. He got his targets, the soldiers weapons, and began drawing his .45 pistol. The Courier lived up to the old legends of the pre-war west. He could draw with such incredible speed, and his accuracy was increased by the aid of VATS. He could hit any target, no matter how small, at this close range.

In a horizontal sweep he allowed the recoil of the gun to carry him to his next target, aiming directly for the bullet chamber of the guns. The .45 did little damage, but it did enough to make their weapons useless. The soldiers couldn't react fast enough, their weapons were hit in rapid succession, even the .50 caliber gun was rendered useless by the perfect shot. They let go of their rifles, which were now only held by their slings, and stood back in shock at the shear skill that was just displayed.

After the last shot, the Courier dropped his .45 and took out his .357 revolver and aimed it directly at the Officer. Although he had 8 targets and a 7 round magazine, loading the extra bullet in the chamber prior to his entrance gave him 8 shots. The Officer stood with his eyes wide, not sure of what to do now.

"I'm just a simple Courier." He said in Japanese, his weapon cocked and ready to fire at the Officer. "And I'd rather ask some questions than kill you right now." He said menacingly.

"Itami." The Officer said. "Nice to meet you." He said so dryly that he almost looked bored. "And I think there are better ways than shooting us, honestly." Itami said.

"Would you have given me the chance, or detained me on the spot." The Courier asked the Officer, who now crossed his arms.

"Fair enough." Itami said. "Seeing as we're at a disadvantage..." Itami was cut off as the Courier shot at them.

"Damn!" Pops yelled as a bullet his his side arm just as he was about to draw it.

"Don't try and draw your pistols please, that would be rude." The Courier said in a friendly, yet harsh tone.

"Everyone, stand down!" Itami yelled at his soldiers, they all relaxed their stances and just avoided their pistols all together now. "What do you want to know?" Itami asked and turned towards the Courier.

"Who are you." He asked casually. "More specifically, your army. Who are you all?" Itami narrowed his eyes at the stranger.

"We are the Japanese Self Defense Force, or the JSDF." He said casually. "We're from the country of Japan, which is beyond the gate of Arnus Hill, as I'm sure you're aware." The Courier nodded.

"A Self Defense Force?" He asked curiously. "Can't say I've ever heard of an army that would call themselves that."

"Can I ask the same question?" Itami tried to pry for information.

Although many people would think that giving information away like this could be dangerous, considering that the two men were sticking only with the bare minimum of information it would be beneficial to know a bit more about who you're fighting. Even soldiers on opposite sides can have pleasant conversations every now and again, even if it is at gun point.

"I'm with the Pacific Alliance. Like you, we are from beyond the gate in our location, though I feel we are from vastly different worlds. We have a Japan in our world as well, but we have no had contact with the island nation for some time." The Courier explained.

"Your world has a Japan?" Itami asked in surprise.

"Maybe, not anymore though, but yes, we did. In fact, the Pacific Alliance is in many ways, the successor to the old world America." The Courier said, much to the surprise of Itami.

"That would explain the English, and the American like equipment." He said. "Hold on, you said old world..." Itami looked at the Courier with curiosity.

"That's a long story." The Courier said. "A story that is irrelevant right now."

"So what happens now?" Itami asked.

"That's a good question." The Courier said. "I'd actually like to know why you returned to an area you were sure there was enemy around, especially without additional support." The Courier did a once over, confirming that this was the same sized unit from before.

"There was a giant monster, a dragon, that burned down a village to the north of here. We came back to warn the village and assist in evacuating them." Itami said truthfully. "We were also unable to request additional support, so I had to take my chances." Itami hoped that this Courier would have a bit of sympathy, and at the very least allow them to help evacuate the townspeople before they engaged in further hostilities.

The Courier stared at Itami intensely, trying to find any tell tale signs of deception. There were a few signs to tell if someone is lying, refusing to look in a persons eyes, touching or hiding their face, and even something as small as facial twitches. Itami had none of that. Itami looked back with confidence and an unwavering conviction. He was clearly telling the truth.

The Courier twirled the revolver in his hand and let it settle in his holster. Itami looked at him with a bit of confusion, but smiled slightly at the mercy this enemy showed. Itami then caught movement in the corner of his eye.

"Wait!" He shouted to Pops, as the senior enlisted soldier began to draw his pistol.

"Sir?" The old man asked.

"He showed us mercy, we'll give him the same courtesy." He said with an authoritative voice.

"Sir, with all due respect..." Katsumoto began. "He is the enemy, and he did attack us." He reasoned.

"I know, but right now our priorities are the civilians, not him. If he is willing to allow us to evacuate the town then we will leave him alone for now." Itami turned to the Courier. "As long as we can part on non-hostile terms that is." He said to the man, who was bending down to pick up his semi-automatic pistol.

"For now, however the next time we meet I will not be so lenient." The Courier said to the young Officer.

The villagers began to leave their house after Itami informed them that they were safe. In moments the villagers returned to their preparation in order to leave the village. Families got out whatever they could load onto their carts and tied their horses in the front so they could leave. The JSDF soldiers did what little they could, half stayed near the vehicles for security reasons while others did small things to help, such as fixing things down and loading the wagons. The Courier however, simply sat down on a barrel and watched as the people worked. The Courier began to remove his helmet and gas mask, taking care to fold the straps in a way that he could quickly put it back on.

He took out a cigarette and lit it with a match that he had and took a long inhale, feeling the burning smoke enter his lungs and giving him a small high that helped to calm his mind. These were normally expensive so the Courier never really smoked too much, preferring to use his limited resources buying guns and food, but he did love the occasions he had to smoke. He had no home and only owned what he carried, so even with his celebrity status he was still nearly broke.

"Those are bad for you." The Courier turned his head to look at the tall and beautiful woman that was speaking with the Officer. "Mari Kurakawa, nice to meet you." She said with a gentle smile.

The Courier was wondering why she was being so friendly with him, granted they decided not to fight each other for now but that hardly meant they were on friendly terms. He just sort of stared at her with a look of surprise and annoyance.

"So, what's your name?" She asked, trying to be friendly.

"Do you always fraternize with the enemy?" The Courier asked in a rude tone. The woman blushed slightly.

"No, I am trying to be friendly to you. Yes, we are enemies but that's no reason to always be hostile, especially when we're like this and not fighting." Her kind attitude made the Courier gag slightly.

"That's not how enemies normally are." He said.

"Did you know, in our world there was a large war over 100 years ago?" She started. "It was known then as the "Great War", but later called World War One as the second World War started." The Courier laughed.

"Our ideas of a "Great War" are vastly different." The Courier knew of the World Wars, which was one of the many things preserved by organizations like the Brotherhood and the Followers.

"During one Christmas day, the two sides, the Allies and the Axis, laid down their weapons and met in No Mans Land. The celebrated together, enemies and soldiers, playing sports and drinking together. The day before they were killing each other, that day though, they celebrated together as brothers and fellow humans. The next day, they were once again engaged in combat." Kurakawa said.

"Can't say I've ever experience that." The Courier said. "Our enemies are either drug addicts that can't tell the difference between fucking a man or a Bramhin, and tribal slavers that likes to nail people to a pole." Kurakawa looked at him with a bit of a scared look.

"So your society is experienced in war?" She asked, wanting to understand what their world is like while being careful not to divulge the JSDF's inexperience in conflict. He is still the enemy after all.

"In the Wasteland, it's kill or be killed. You do what you have to in order to survive. Our enemies are sadists, rapists, and slavers. Enemies that if you surrender, they'll strangle you with your own wife's intestines." The Courier said naturally, as if he was telling what he did for lunch.

"Sounds terrible." She said with a sad expression. "You call it a wasteland, but I can clearly see that your society is more organized than that." She commented on the small flaw.

"Was the old west without civilization?" The Courier asked. "Even with civilization, the areas between are still a death trap waiting to spring." He said, taking the last puff of his cigarette. Kurakawa coughed a bit from the smoke.

"Honestly, I'd suggest quitting before you develop Lung Cancer." She said, and was a bit surprised when the Courier began laughing.

"Cancer is almost unheard of where I'm from." He said. "Our world is a nuclear holocaust that's on the downhill. I was born and raised eating irradiated food, bathing in irradiated water, and crawling through radiation on a daily basis. Generations before me did the same. We've built up an immunity to diseases like Cancer, the only way you can get it is through heavy exposure. Even then, most people either die first or become Ghouls, and Ghouls are immune to diseases like Cancer."

"Ghouls?" Kurakawa asked.

"Don't ask, better not to know honestly, not that I'm a Bigot but still." The Courier waved it off.

"Just keep those away from pops, the older man there." She pointed. "I've been trying to get him to quit for a while now." She laughed.

"I never would, he'd die rather quickly." Kurakawa again looked surprised.

"It's poisoned?" She asked.

"When you make cancer sticks out of plants that are irradiated, you'd be surprised the rads you can get from this. One cig would probably make him mutate since you guys are so virgin when it comes to radiation." He laughed and put the bud in his pocket so he doesn't litter. Last thing he wants is to get someone sick with this thing. "Better than the scavenged crap I've had to deal with before, got to love industrialization."

"Kurakawa, can you go get some water for Takeo?" Itami ordered to his Medic, who replied with a "Yes Sir" and went about her way.

The Courier smiled as she left, watching her go over to their vehicles. Truthfully, he wished he could see more of her rear but she was dressed in such baggy clothing. Then again, it would be better if he stayed away from her, someone of her innocence would not be good around him. She was simply too nice and motherly, she would never survive around a wastelander.

The little convoy was ready to move out, so the Courier got up and began walking with the wagons, making sure to stay a bit behind the JSDF's vehicles. With the elders command they all nudged their horses to move and soon were on their way out of the town. They were heading in the direction of his base so he'd stay with them until he was close to the base.

* * *

"Damn it all." The Courier whispered to himself as the convoy was halted by a broken wagon. They hadn't even left the town before the wagon broke, and now they were somewhat stuck. To make matters worse, a little girl was badly hurt from the event. The Medic, Kurakawa, ran over to assist the girl and hopefully treat any injuries she could find. At first glance the Courier could tell the girl was ok, at least by his standards.

"The girl has a concussion." Kurakawa deduced. "It's possible she has a fractured skull as well." The Courier got down next to the girl, gently pushing a blue haired teen away from the little girl.

"Excuse me kid." The Courier said as the blue haired girl moved away. By her expression, the Courier could tell she was shocked by their presence, he teal colored eyes absorbing the scene before her with intense concentration.

The Medics assessment was correct, the girl has a small cut on her head that is barely leaking any blood, which means she landed on her head as she fell off the wagon. The Courier took out a doctor's bag and opened it, taking out a single stimpack and prepping the needle.

"What are you doing?" Kurakawa asked the man.

"It's called a stimpack, very useful from where I'm from. It accelerates a persons healing, allowing injuries to heal very quickly. If applied immediately it can even prevent mortal wounds from killing someone." He said as he injected the syringe into the girls neck. In seconds the girls breathing stabilized and she fell asleep, most likely exhausted from what she just endured.

"Amazing." Kurakawa said. "Her wound on her head has completely clotted already, it's even showing signs of scarring already." She said amazed.

"She'll be completely healed after an hour, but getting her first stimpack weakened her a bit. Her body is not used to the stimulation from this thing." The Courier said.

"Watch Out!" The Courier heard Itami yell. Suddenly, a horse reared up in a mad frenzy, hoping to try and escape from the area. It was ready to trample the Courier and everyone present around the girl, but a well placed shot from the older JSDF soldier stopped before it could cause any harm. The beast fell down, blood oozing from the new wound in its head.

"Nice shot Pops." Itami said to the older enlisted soldier.

"Meh, you missed its eye." The Courier said, looking down at the beast.

"I wasn't trying to hit its eye, I was trying to stop it from crushing you." The older man said defiantly.

"I mean, I'm sure you could have made it a little more theatrical." The Courier made sure to keep away from looking at the group. Kurakawa however, saw a bit through this ruse.

"You're not jealous, are you?" She asked with a smile, and giggled slightly as the Courier flinched slightly.

"No, it was a poorly placed shot." He said.

"Are you kidding me, I hit it right in the dome. There is no better place to neutralize a target than that." Pops said angrily.

"Come on, there was no style to it, don't you remember when I took out all your guy's guns without hitting you?" The Courier argued.

"Yea, and because of you I have to borrow SGT Kuribayashi's rifle, the girl doesn't ever keep this thing clean." He said back.

Kurakawa was standing next to Itami, laughing at the little exchange between the two men, trying to prove who was a better shot. She shook her head and turned to the L.T., who had a look of confusion.

"What do you think he's jealous of?" Itami asked.

"I believe it's that he didn't get to kill the horse, maybe feeling a bit embarrassed that someone else saved him, especially an enemy." She giggled. "I get the feeling he's a very masculine individual, probably a bit of a loner as well." She deduced.

"So you're a psychiatrist now?" Itami asked coyly.

"It's important for a medical professional to have good bedside manners, plus, I have a natural ability to read people." She tilted her head and smiled at Itami.

"Fair enough." Itami said, turning his attention back to the little fight going on.

After the argument was over, they all managed to collect their things and got the convoy moving again.

 **End Chapter 5**

* * *

Well, I'm back, and with a new chapter.

Please review.


	6. Chapter 6: Adu Aduyi Hooweh Ssa

**Chapter 6: Adu Aduyi Hooweh Ssadikki**

The Courier was actually enjoying himself a bit. It almost reminded him of some of the odd jobs he took while he was trying to make money to enter the Strip for the first time. He did any number of things, from Caravan Guard, to messenger, and even exposed a phony guard in Freeside. It was very relaxing for him, reminding him of simpler times before the Battle of Hoover Dam. While he had no memories of his life before getting shot, the days immediately following almost felt like his childhood. He had no idea what his age even was, but he had to guess around 18 or 20, at least according to Doc Mitchel.

He was walking next to the blue haired girl and some older man with a strange pointed hat. It reminded the Courier of some of the wizards in the old videos Mr. House gave him. He especially loved the really old ones, from the 1930s. Strangely, the Courier overheard everyone complaining about the heat and being thirsty. It surprised him greatly, while he was also hot, and surprised by the humidity in the air, it was nothing that he hasn't dealt with before. At least it wasn't a Nuclear Winter, which does actually happen during the winter months. There is no snow, or if there is it's not even noticeable, but it's still a desert. It gets very, very cold during the winter.

The girl kept stealing glances of the Courier, eyeing him like he was a strange mutant. He probably was in some ways, generations of living around radiation probably made him very different from these people of the genetic level.

"Excuse me." The girl asked in a very light tone.

"What do you need?" The Courier replied in a similar tone, but a bit more assertive than hers. It wasn't really a rude tone, it was just a very direct way of talking.

"Who are they up there?" The girl asked, pointing to the JSDF soldiers up ahead.

"Not too sure, we've been at war with them for a little while now. Began not too long ago actually." The Courier said. "I only know a bit more than you, but from what they said, they're called a "Self Defense Force", which still makes no sense to me." The Courier whispered the last thing under his breath.

"Self Defense Force?" The girl tried the name, which was somewhat foreign to her. "And who are you?" She asked.

"I'm just a simple Courier." He replied humbly.

"You are with a foreign army?" She probed again.

"Yes." The Courier replied. "I'm with the Pacific Alliance, a collection of sovereign states and cultures that work together to ensure peace in the western area of my lands." He said. "The JSDF over there attacked one of our Vertibirds and started this whole conflict." The Courier said in half truths. He knew full well it was an accident, as did many of the other higher ups. But the NCR needed a justifiable reason to wage this war in order to ensure they get the rights to this land. It was cut-throat politics at its finest, but it was a necessity that the NCR had to take in order to ensure the PA approves of this venture.

"And you're helping evacuate the village?" She asked.

"In a way, yes. I'm more here for your protection than anything else." The Courier said.

The conversation ended there and the Courier focused on a commotion in front of them. The convoy was halted again, this time by a wagon that was stuck in the mud. The Courier ran over to see if he could help the JSDF soldiers push it forward and out of the mud.

The Courier set himself next to the group, grabbing the corner of the wagon. With the command from one of the men they all pushed simultaneously. The Courier struggled a bit, as did everyone else but the wagon would not move forward at all. They tried to push again, this time digging their feet into the mud a little bit more to get some traction.

The Courier slipped and fell face first into the mud, grumbling as he heard the other soldiers laughing at his misfortune. He got up, but this time he slipped again and fell on his back, covering himself completely in mud.

"Seems like you got a bit roughed up." Pops laughed at the mans misfortune. He extended his hand to help the young man up from the mud. The Courier looked at him with a sour expression and got up on his own.

"Thanks." He said, though it wasn't really a bad tone. He did legitimately thank the older man, but he was nursing his wounded pride.

"Never been knee deep in mud before?" He asked.

"Only once, when I fished out an old bomber from a lake. Well, more like I was in wet sand, but other than that, no." The Courier said truthfully.

"Really, it doesn't rain where your from?" Pops asked with a laugh.

"I live in a desert, rain isn't exactly common." The Courier said.

"Come on, it's fun to be covered in mud, I used to play in the mud all the time with my brothers." Kurokawa said with a smile.

"You're sweet personality sickens me." The Courier said to her, which was again truthful. He's really never met anyone this childish. All the women he's ever met have either bit timid due to some kind of abuse, or hard asses that are tough because of some kind of abuse. Seriously, everyone is abused in some way in the wasteland.

"I'll take that as a compliment." She laughed, knowing that she was complimented and insulted at the same time.

"Come on, let's get this done and over with." Pops said with motivation and patted the Courier in the back. The Courier rolled his eyes and got behind the wagon again. "Ready..." Pops began. "Push!" he yelled.

With all his strength the Courier pushed the wagon, for a moment he lost his footing but someone grabbed the straps on his back and prevented him from falling over. The push was just enough to get the wagon out of the mud and went it forward, allowing the convoy to move again.

"Thanks." The Courier said to the person that kept him from falling, who was Kurokawa. She smiled and waved it off.

"No problem." She said sweetly.

"If it wasn't for that mud, I'd have been able to push that thing out myself." The Courier said.

"Really?" Kurokawa laughed at his attempted bravado.

"Well, maybe not myself, but I wouldn't have had that much problem. I have a strength rating of 7 after all." He said.

"Strength rating?"Kurokawa asked.

"Right, I keep forgetting you're not familiar with my world." The Courier reminded himself. "It's called the Vigor Test, it's a mandatory test that the NCR uses to determine certain attributes of their soldiers. It breaks up a persons abilities in 7 areas, called S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats." He explained, as the rest of the JSDF gathered around him.

"Strength is determined through a series of strength exercises, mostly it involves lifting heavy objects in different ways. Perception is determined by testing the senses, like hearing things that are quite or seeing letters from a far distance. Endurance is tested through a pain tolerance test, Charisma is tested by how your peers review you, Intelligence through a written test, agility through an obstacle course, and lastly luck. This is actually reviewed by your career and history. It's all based on a scale of one to ten." The Courier finished.

"That's a bit much." Itami said.

"Then there are the Skills Test, all on a scale of one to one-hundred. For example, lock-picking is tested by unlocking a difficult lock and how long it takes. Guns and Energy Weapons by how accurate you are, your knowledge of the weapon, and how fast you can clean and disassemble them." The Courier explained. "It can take years to really develop a good record in the NCR, after all, they can only test so many people, however points can be awarded for experience in the field and what your specific job is. For example, a medic will be awarded points in Medicine for treating x number of patients or saving someone from a serious wound." They all nodded at this information.

"So it's like how our promotion points work." Kurokawa said. "Basically, for performing certain tasks, getting awarded ribbons, and completing training events we're given points. When we reach a certain status we get promoted based on the number of points we have." She said.

"I suppose it's similar, the ranking system does involve the use of your skills and S.P.E.C.I.A.L scores." The Courier thought.

Things actually went pretty normal after that. They had a conversation about each others worlds, talking about the cultures, religions, and other various things. The Courier, as well as the JSDF kept it somewhat vague since they didn't want to let slip any sensitive knowledge, but it was still kind of nice to just relax and enjoy each others company. It helped to pass the time as the convoy slowly made it's way down the road.

* * *

The Courier kept his distance from the JSDF again since they were resting inside their vehicles. For obvious reasons, he was not allowed near them since they didn't want him to gain any information on their technology, especially their vehicles seeing as how they were more advanced than what the PA currently had. The Courier didn't mind all that much, he kind of expected it in fact. Even though they are having a friendly day with each other, they all knew that soon they would be hostile again and will likely have to kill each other.

It was something the Courier was not too familiar with, he'd never been in a situation where he was friendly with a confirmed enemy. There were moments when he acted civil around some, like Benny, in order to manipulate him to make killing the man easier; but he's never been on such good terms with an enemy. Like he said before, his enemies were mostly drug addicts and slavers, ones who didn't usually talk before shooting or stabbing.

He could also tell they had a general lack of conflict where they're from. Maybe not devoid of war, but clearly their society was a safe place where most people grow and live without much fear of death. Even in secure areas death was still a very real possibility in the Wasteland. You don't just grow up without killing a few people or getting some scars. The general lack of physical deformities and scars on the JSDF also told him that they didn't do much fighting at all, either in their normal lives or in a war. He wondered just how often the Japanese fought in a war to have soldiers that were unmarked from conflict.

"Crows?" The Courier said to himself as he saw a flock of birds in front of the convoy. He had to suppress a feeling of restlessness since normally that meant he was in Legion territory back home. There were so many crucified people in Legion territory that crows practically migrated there, if you saw a lot of them it normally meant you were near a Legion camp. The Courier suppressed that feeling though since there was no Legion in Elysium.

The Courier ran up there to see what was going on, taking care not to get too close to the vehicles. He stood next to the JSDF soldiers, catching himself again as he nearly slipped and fell from the mud. The Courier took out his binoculars and looked over towards where the crows were circling. In the center was a young girl, probably around 18 or so, who was wearing a very strange outfit. The Courier honestly never seen anything like it, it was well made and had an interesting design. She was also carrying a very large weapon, which looked like a large battle axe or a hail-bird.

The Courier saw her look at them with a smile on her face, one that told him she was a bit devious in her intentions. She looked like an animal ready to pounce on them at any time, which detracted from her apparent young age. She stood up and began walking towards the group. A group of children from the JSDFs vehicles ran out in excitement over towards the woman, screaming something that the Courier was unfamiliar with. He didn't have an exact translation for it, but he could tell that it had some religious significance.

The woman stopped for a moment, she smiled down at the kids and spoke in a soft tone. Even some of the adults and elders bowed down with their hands clasped. It was not unlike what the tribals in the wastelands and many of the religious groups did when they were in worship. Whoever this woman was, she must have some religious significance towards these people.

The Courier overheard the conversation, the villagers were explaining that they had to evacuate from the village with the help of foreigners. At first, the woman asked if the JSDF and the Courier forced them out, but was delighted to hear that they were actually being protected by the unknown factions.

The Courier kept his distance from her, he got a very bad vibe from this girl. After all, she was carrying a weapon that made Lanius's "Blade of the East" look like a rusty old kitchen knife. And she carried it with ease. Even the 7 foot tall giant had difficulties wielding his bumper sword, yet this teenage girl could hold that thing like it was a stick.

After inspecting the vehicles, the girl came over to inspect him. The Courier stared at her, taking in every detail of her terrifying presence. She looked at the Couriers eyes, studying him just as intently, taking in just as much detail as he was with her. She even had a look of lust in her eyes as she stared at him. She licked her lips and stood on her toes to get a better look at him. Her face was inches from his own, but the Courier did not back down. This girl was no stranger to combat, and this was not a look of interest but a challenge of dominance.

"You smell intoxicating." She said with a smirk. "So much blood on your soul, hundreds dead by your hand. It's beautiful." She smiled in delight.

To be clear, the Courier was no lady killer. He's had a few dances, slept with some prostitutes, and even had "Relationships", but he's never been very good with women. Hell, he only ever remembered spending time with 3 females before, one was gay, the other one he could never tell, and the last one was a giant blue mutant. He was always a loner and never good with talking in general, so the sudden advance of this woman left him a bit flat footed.

"Thanks?" He said, not sure if she was complimenting him or insulting him.

She left just as fast as she arrived, returning to the vehicles and deciding to get inside them. She clearly had a very direct personality and cared little about how she was perceived. The protests of Itami made this evident. Clearly she had no problem with advancing on a man, even if he protested. The Courier just hoped she wasn't an insane cannibal, he had enough of that in the wasteland.

Now the Courier really kept his distance from the vehicles, wanting to avoid that strange girl as much as possible. She just sent cold shivers down the wastelanders back, her direct attitude and massive weapon just spelled trouble.

* * *

It was beginning to get relatively late, the sun was almost setting and there was maybe 2 hours left of sunlight. Members of the JSDF were dismounted from their vehicles, maintaining a very strict marching formation on the sides of the road in order to quickly engage any threat that they would run across. Of course, that main threat was the rest of the PA forces. Although the Courier was friendly to them, that didn't garentee that other PA units wouldn't engage them. After all, the Courier made it clear that he had no radio communication with them. He had his NCR Radio, but that had a limited range usually didn't work in certain terrain. The hilly landscape was starting to become rocky, which completely ruins radio communication.

Military radios, both in the JSDF and scavenged Pre-war American, work on a LOS (Line of Sight) signal. Radio waves are sent out in all directions, and are recieved by another radio in the distance. If there is something in the way of that signal (Such as a hill or mountain), you can lose communications. That's why relay towers have to be installed in high areas to allow for that LOS communication. Especially since there are no satellites in Elysium.

The Courier felt a tug on his Desert Ranger Duster. Looking down, he saw a small girl holding the edges of his duster, looking up at him with scared but pleading eyes. The girls mother, who he noticed was the same woman he healed when he initially arrived in the village, quickly pulled the girl away.

"Forgive me sir." She bowed her head, afraid that he might retaliate for the disrespect. Many soldiers and mercenaries often would abuse people that they feel disrespected them. "My daughter is lacking manners, she is still young." She said.

"Don't worry." The Courier smiled slightly, he completely understood that kids were naturally rude. Well, not rude, most kids never intend to be rude or disrespectful, they just haven't learned how to be polite.

"I beg you, do you have any water for her?" She asked hopefully. The Courier then noticed the womans dry lips, as well as her daughter who seemed just as parched.

"I'm sorry, but I can't." The Courier said with a bit of regret. "Although I can drink it no problem, my water is poisoners to your people. Your daughter would get violently ill." He said, and had difficulty looking at the girls saddened look.

"I understand sir." The woman said and bowed her head.

"Kurokawa!" The Courier called in Japanese to the medic who was just a few meters in front of him. She turned her head to get a better look at him.

"Yes?" She asked.

"You got some water for the girl?" The Courier asked, pointing at the little girl who began to go pale from the lack of hydration. The young woman smiled at the thought and nodded.

She informed her Squad Leader and ran to one of the vehicles in order to get some water. In moments she came back out with what looked like a back pack. It had some weird camouflage on it, which looked like tan squares and a hose that ran out the top corner.

"Drink up." The medic handed the hose to the little girl, who looked at it with confusion. "Like this." Kurokawa demonstrated how to use it by putting her lips around the end and began sucking the water out of it.

"It's a waterpack." The Courier smiled slightly, it reminded him of the waterpacks that many Rangers carried, and the ones that regular NCR soldiers began fielding.

"We call it a hydration-pack, or a "Camel-pack" as the Americans say." She said. The girl began to chug the water after she figured out how to drink it, then her mother began to drink as well.

"The color is different from everything else though." The Courier said.

"One of my instructors when I was in training was a U.S. Corp-man, he was a member of the American Navy but he was always working with the American Marines. He was always a very loud and aggressive man, but he had a good heart. He gave this to me when I accidentally lost my canteen during a field exercise. I've always took it with me as a reminder of what he taught me." She then grimaced, as if remembering a bad memory. "Since I was still a private at the time, he gave me corrective action. He basically made me work out in the middle of the field until I hated life. Sometimes I hate working with Americans." She then laughed at the memory, clearly joking about hating them.

"Sounds like the NCR to me." The Courier laughed. "Pretty much anyone who has served longer than a year is a hardened veteran, although conflict has been calming down lately since the Alliance was formed." Kurokawa laughed at that.

"Do you see that?" Kurokawa said randomly.

The Courier looked up in the direction of the sun, he didn't see what she saw for a moment there. In moments, he noticed a silhouette in the distance. Getting out his Assault Rife, he prepared for anything that might happen.

"Dragon!" Someone yelled, and the Courier's face drained in horror. What he saw looked like a true horror, something that only a mad Enclave scientists could ever conceive. This thing looked like a cross between a Death Claw and a Cazador, and it was clearly on the hunt. Normally predators didn't hunt during the day, but when you're the biggest, baddest bird in the sky, there is nothing stopping you from eating.

The Courier quickly pushed the three females away, trying to motion them to get somewhere safe. It seemed almost futile as the beast breathed fire, destroying many of the wagons and killing dozens of people, mainly women and children who were too slow to get out of the way. The Courier quickly aimed his weapon and put it on full auto, using VATS, he aimed for the wings of the beast to try and ground. it.

The beast roared in pain as the bullets began to tear through the fabric like skin on its wings. Although the scales makes it as strong as power armor, it's wings are easy to pierce. The Dragon landed on the ground and roared in pain, but it did not stay that way forever.

"Get in!" Pops yelled as a vehicle rolled up right next to the Courier. The Courier quickly jumped on top of the vehicle, which was the heavily armored one with the large caliber gun. However, due to the Couriers slight idiocy, it was unusable since the chamber was dented and damaged. Not only that, most of their weapons were disabled.

"Fighting giant monsters is a JSDF tradition!" One of the soldiers yelled in motivation.

For a moment, the Courier looked at them dumbfounded. They fight these things on a regular basis? Granted, the wasteland was no stranger to giant monsters, but nothing compared to this massive beast. Not even a Super Mutant Behemoth. For the first time, the Courier actually felt a bit intimidated by the JSDF.

"LAV, create a distraction!" Itami yelled, clearly he was very competent under fire, which was one of the marks of a good leader. The vehicles dispersed, allowing them to create multiple hard to hit targets.

The Courier continued to fire at the beast, but it was still ineffective. Even though the beast is now on the ground, it means nothing since they have no way to actually damage or kill it.

"Incoming!" Someone yelled as a missile went over the vehicles and hit the ground near the dragon. The vehicles stopped and everyone got low inside so that they could be protected by the armor of the vehicles.

"Where did that come from?!" Pops yelled out.

"I don't know." Kurokawa replied.

Everyone heard loud exploisions, it sounded like it was from a gun but it also sounded different. It sounded like something from a sci-fi movie, but almost deafening at the same time.

"Gauss Rifles?" The Courier said to himself. It was coming in the direction of the villagers. Everyone turned around and were amazed by what they saw, minus the Courier.

A Platoon of ten Brotherhood of Steel Knights took up a line formation in front of the villagers, using their power armor as a shield in case the dragon began to breath fire. Standard B.o.S operating procedures lists that three Knights in a Platoon were equipped with Gauss Rifles, two were equipped with missile launchers, and the rest had either laser rifles or plasma rifles.

The Gauss Rifles were very powerful, which was enough to damage the scales of the dragon. The laser and plasma rifles began to melt its scales, exposing its soft skin underneath.

The beast roared in agony as its flesh was slowly melted away from the incredible heat of the weapons, it could not fight back and could barely move, only suffer as more and more fire came from the Knights. The two missile launchers took aim with their missiles and fired at the beast. The missiles moved fast and hit the target perfectly, the dragon had no way to survive from them. In a last, pathetic roar, the beast was torn in half. It's upper body separated from its lower body and died almost instantly. The battle was over and a team of four Knights began to move towards the JSDF.

"Halt!" The leader of the four man team shouted at the JSDF, who were completely halted and lowered their weapons. They knew that if they either tried to fight or run, they would die.

"We surrender." Itami said with little hesitation, not wanting to put his soldiers in danger by giving them a reason to fire.

"Lay down your arms and come over slowly, you will be detained and returned for questioning. Try to resist and we will kill you." The leader said in decent Japanese. Thanks to Mentats, learning new languages was very quick and very easy so most soldiers knew how to speak both the Elysium language and Japanese.

"Stand down soldier." The Courier said in English, jumping down from the armored vehicle.

"Sir.?" The Knight asked. "I did not see you there, have you been taken prisoner?" He asked.

"No, I actually made a small alliance with these soldiers in order to save the villagers over there. I promised them safe passage so you will stand down." The Courier said in a commanding tone. He may not have been an officer, but he was still regarded as one by every member of the PA.

"Understood sir." The Knight said and turned and ran back to the other Team ton inform the Platoon Leader of the situation.

"What's going on?" Itami asked, unsure of what they said since they didn't speak English.

"I'm holding up my end of the deal." The Courier said. "They will leave you alone as long as you don't give them a reason to attack you." Itami nodded.

"Thanks for that." Kurokawa said as she stood next to Itami.

"Don't thank me yet, pretty soon we may have to shoot each other again." The Courier said solemnly. They all sort of forgot that they were still enemies, and it was almost sobering to be reminded of that. They could very well kill each other tomorrow if they saw each other again.

"Who are they?" Pops asked as he pointed at the B.o.S Knights.

"Brotherhood of Steel Knights, specifically members of the Ironside Brigade, 1st Armored Division." The Courier explained.

"Let's go." Itami said. "We should begin burying the dead." Everyone nodded with a look of sorrow, realizing that many of the civilians had been killed by the dragon. Without anymore hesitation, they walked over to the corpses in order to begin their burial.

* * *

Please review. Thanks.


	7. Chapter 7: Initial Negotiations

**Chapter 7: Initial Negotiations**

"You're not going to be taking the rest of them?" The Courier asked the village elder, who looked at him with a sad expression.

"We will be unable to help them, many of our carriages have been destroyed and they will not survive the journey. We only have so much food that we can pass around, and they will be unable to hunt for themselves." He said, referring to the many women, children, and elderly who were now without a family. "Please forgive us, but we must move on and they will be better in your care." The Courier nodded.

It was very common in the wasteland to abandon children and elderly who were without family, especially in large groups. You have too many mouths to feed and not enough food that you can carry. If you can't hunt for yourself you wouldn't last long. At least in this case, the village elder can take solace in the fact that either the Courier or the JSDF would watch over them.

The area surrounding the dragon was under heavy security by the Ironside Brigade. They were members of A-Troop, 1st Squadron, 25th Cavalry Regiment. The 25th was considered some of the best heavy soldiers in the B.o.S, capable of attacking forces much larger than their own. Their power armor was an older model though, the T-45D, which suited the 25th just fine. They always believed that you could take lack of resources and equipment and turn it into sheer fighting power. They were a group that had their own head up their ass, but in a good way.

"Then I wish you luck old man, hope you guys make it to your destination safely." The Courier nodded to him.

Everyone bid their fair-wells, many of the JSDF were saddened to see their new found friends leave so soon. It was an interesting experience for everyone, and made a lot of good bonds in the process. The petite woman who was now outside of the vehicle (Without her body armor due to the injury she received from the Courier) even shed some tears of sorrow as they left. Her gaze then turned to one of resentment as she looked over towards the Courier. He just kept looking towards the retreating villagers. Clearly she was not very happy about getting shot. The Courier could have apologized, but he really didn't care either way. He did what he had to do in the moment and it doesn't change anything. It will probably just make it easier to kill each other later.

After the villagers were out of sight, it was time for the two units to speak with each other.

"I am Staff Sergeant O-hooligan, and I am the leader of 3rd Platoon." The Squad Leader said to LT. Itami as they exchanged a salute. Even though they were enemies, they still regarded each other as fellow soldiers and kept things civil for now.

"1ST LT. Itami Yoji, acting Captain of 3rd Recon Team." He said back to the man.

"We are on requesting a Parley with the army known as the JSDF, in order to initiate negotiations with you." The Sergeant said. "We are currently escorting delegates who will handle the first talks and we are requesting to be escorted into JSDF territory." His voice was commanding, fitting for a veteran of the old wars between the B.o.S and the NCR.

"I have a hard time believing that Sergeant." Itami said truthfully. "You did try to disarm me and my men." He pointed out.

"We were unsure of how you would react and had to take measures to defend ourselves." He said. "I'm sure you understand LT." Itami nodded.

"When did the Colonel authorize this?" The Courier asked the Sergeant, who immediately adopted a more respectful tone.

"Yes sir, it was Mr. House who proposed the idea however the Colonel agreed to it." He said. "We're joined with members of 1st Ranger Batallion and 1st ID, who are escorting and guarding the Delegates who will make contact with the leaders of the JSDF." He said.

1st Rangers were no joke, the entire Battalion was made up of Veteran Rangers, all of which were the best the NCR had to offer. Even a group of these men could take out a force 5 times larger than their own size. 1st ID (Infantry Division) was simply one of the many divisions in the NCR, most likely made up of regular NCR Infantry soldiers. They no doubt make up the bulk of this little guarding force.

"Where are they?" The Courier asked.

"They're right over that hill sir." The Knight pointed in that direction. "The convoy is waiting, we stopped when we saw that monster and dismounted in order to ensure that it posed no threat to the convoy. We will happily escort you sir, Mr. House expressed that he wanted you there for the negotiations." The Courier nodded.

Itami just stared at the man, how was a simple Courier so highly respected. Itami had assumed that he was a civilian this whole time, but there was no mistaking it. The way the armored soldier stood and spoke to him, it was as if he was an officer. The Courier however did not stand like an officer, he stood relaxed and calm like any other civilian. It was very strange, and to have him come to the negotiations... Just who is this man? With one look he could clearly see that the rest of his men were thinking the same thing. Why is this man, this simple Courier, being shown such great respect?

"Alright." The Courier sighed in annoyance. He looked over at Itami and the others, who were a bit confused by what they were saying since they most likely didn't understand English very well.

"We will escort you only as far as our first line defenses." Itami said to the Sergeant. "However, we will have to wait for confirmation from Command to allow you to proceed any further."

"If your leaders decline, we will expect safe passage away from JSDF controlled territory." The Sergeant affirmed.

"Of course." Itami said. After that was settled, the Sergeant called his men over and they were preparing to move back to the convoy. The Courier stood with the rest of them and kept his distance from the JSDF soldiers.

Everyone looked at the Courier again with surprise. They could all tell by how the Knights moved, that they had a lot of respect for the man. They looked and acted around him much like many of the JSDF did with the Americans that were stationed with them. While the JSDF often got angry at the Americans, they always had a deep respect for them with how they acted and the experiences in war that they carried. These men looked at the Courier as if he was some kind of messiah.

"What do you think of them?" Sergeant Major Kuwahara asked Itami. The rest of the JSDF gathered around them.

"I don't know." Itami said. "When we were first assaulted I took some shots at them. Their armor is like nothing I've seen, even a burst from a 7.62 round isn't enough to get through their armor. The only way to kill them is to hit between the joints. Not only that, but they had such large and powerful weapons, some even had mini-guns. They even managed to take out our tanks with little effort." Itami actually shivered a bit thinking about them.

"Are you ok Sir?" Kurokawa asked.

"I'll be fine." Itami said, though everyone knew it was a lie. Ever since the attack on Arnus Hill, Itami hadn't been acting the same. He would often zone out and block out everything around him. Kurokawa was far from the devastation that happened, most of them were, except Itami. He was on the front lines for both of the major battles, and she could see it was getting to him.

It reminded her a lot of the Americans she would work with. Many of them had this "I don't give a fuck" attitude, like they didn't care about anything. They also just seemed so... hard, like nothing could really phase them. If it wasn't for his uniform, Kurokawa might actually mistake Itami for an American Officer that's been to combat.

"Well, I think they're a bunch of wimps." Kuribayashi said distastefully. "I mean, they need all that armor in order to feel safe? Pathetic, I'm sure our Special Forces could wipe the floor with them."

"You always did have a thing for hard ass men." Pops laughed at his subordinate. She just stuck her tongue out at him and flipped him off.

* * *

"...And then, they came out of nowhere and began using this strange magic. There was lighting of red and green that began to hurt the Dragon, it was as if a candle was melting from the flame." The bar maid told her tale to the many patrons, she never grew tired of explaining it over and over again. Everyone around the tavern always listened intently, some even scoffed at the very thought. If these mercenaries, or mages, were as strong as this woman claimed, why have they not been around before?

"I find that hard to believe." Norma said in disbelief. "There is no possible way that a small group of mercenaries can defeat a flame dragon." Everyone present nodded at what he said.

"Perhaps it was a smaller dragon?" Hamilton said.

"Even then, taking down a dragon with only a dozen mages, it is no small feat, that's a certainty." Grey Co Aldo said to his young knights.

"Do you doubt my tales, sir knight?" The bar maid said as she approached the group with their drinks in her tray.

"Of course." Norma said. "I might be able to believe a smaller dragon, but a flame dragon would be too much for a group of men, even mages. You're probably just saying lies to get favors and tips." He said with little tact.

"I would do no such thing, I do have my honor." The bar maid said, her face turning red from both embarrassment and anger.

"I don't know." Hamilton said. "I've been hearing strange rumors lately." She muttered to herself but it was loud enough for the Princess to hear.

"What rumors?" Princess Pinya Co Lada asked.

"Well..." Hamilton stuttered. "I've only heard it in passing, so I didn't really believe it..." She was nervous about speaking about this.

"Speak, what is it?" Pinya said in a commanding yet gentle tone, showing her subordinate that she demands her to answer but is sure to make her feel easy and relaxed.

"There have been rumors about many groups of men going around. Most are wearing armor and clothes the same color of the sand, yet others wear massive suits of plated armor. There have even been some men in green clothes but there is not much of them." She said, this time able to speak with a bit more confidence. "They said that these men in sand colored clothes, and knights, have been attacking and killing the bandits and fallen Allied Army. Groups of them have slaughtered entire armies of bandits. But I haven't really believed such rumors." She looked down, a bit embarrassed about saying that since she knew no one would believe her.

"Oh, that's them alright." The Bar maid said. "They're called the Ensea-ar, and they're trying to protect people from the bandits that have plagued the land since the Allied Army was defeated at Arnus Hill." She smiled at the thought, and blushed a bit as she imagined the hardened men that defended her and the rest of Coda Village.

"And we're to believe a woman who is clearly taken by the mercenaries." Norma said in annoyance. "Clearly her fantasies have blinded her to reality." The Bar maid just stared at him in anger. She huffed and walked away.

"What do you think Grey?" Pinya asked her old mentor.

"For so many people to believe these tales... there is more here than simple fiction." He said confidently. "When scouting, you must always remember that there are truths in every lie, no man can make a believable lie. It must be padded with truth or else the lie will fall apart. Even then, rumors could be a truth that has been changed naturally as it passes from one mouth to the other. Rumors could simply be exaggerated truths." Grey sipped his beer as he pondered the latest bit of information. "It is possible that these mercenaries are a faction of the Allied Kingdoms, that instead of resorting to banditry, decided to defend the people from their fallen brothers. Or it could be the foreign army on Arnus Hill. Until we've seen what is going on, all we can do is speculate." He finished the glass in one last gulp.

Pinya looked on in worry, even fright. Whoever this group was, they are clearly more powerful than you average soldier. Small groups of men, destroying entire armies and even dragons? How was it possible. In a moment like this, Pinya almost wished she was back in the imperial palace and away from whatever madness was ahead of her.

* * *

 _"This is_ _Inoichi Sakura here to bring an update on the current situation on what news has been released beyond the Gate. JSDF officials have been assuring the people that the American like enemy has been contained. However, many soldiers in the JSDF have since been going AWOL since they have returned from the other side, and many more have been transferred out of active duty status due to psychological casualties. According to recent polls, there have not been this much psychological problems since the United States first entered into the Iraqi War in 2003._

 _Furthermore, Japanese high command has been requesting extra technologies and assistance from the United States, with U.S. service members training and advising JSDF forces. Members of U.S. 1st_ _Group Special Forces have been called on by JSDF Officers to oversee training for high risk operations that are expected to be conducted beyond the Gate, according to our sources._

 _According to a recent poll, over 40% of the Japanese public have been calling for an end to hostilities and the destruction of the Gate, while an additional 20% are demanding for the Americans to handle the situation. Lt. General_ _Kōichirō Hazama had this to say..."_

* * *

 _"While we are calling for the aid of the American government, as well as other NATO allies, this conflict is strictly a Japanese issue. We will not endanger the lives of our allied soldiers, nor will we allow for our own forces to face an enemy without proper training and equipment. Due to our recent defense budgets, the JSDF have never had the ability to create advanced technology for military use, and to do so would take years of legislature and developments. In staying true to our oath to remain as a defensive force only, we are allowing JSDF soldier to be armed and equipped with American weapons and equipment. When the conflict has been settled, every piece of serviceable equipment will be returned to the United States, and the Japanese government will take full responsibility for compensating for any damaged or destroyed equipment. We will be issuing all JSDF forces beyond the Gate with American weapons, body armor, and equipment within the next few days. Most of which are being shipped over from the American bases on Okinawa. However, we will not use these gifts from our allies to engage in any hostile action, unless it is deemed that failiure to do so will result in the loss of Japanese lives, or the lives of our allies."_

* * *

 _"This is_ _Inoichi Sakura, signing out."_

* * *

While the large convoy stayed past the hills, a smaller force went forward and into the recently constructed fortress gate. Itami managed to get permission for the delegates to arrive into JSDF territory, which was met with a bit of excitement from the higher ups. They wanted to put an end to hostilities quickly before things got out of hand.

Itami knew just how fragile the situation was, if Japan had to rely on American troops to fight their battles for them, funding and public recognition of the JSDF would drop, and it would only enhance the protests and civil unrest that was going on in Japan. This was an opportunity to quell issues back home, by negotiating peace it would show the International community that Japan truly wants nothing more than peace, and will avoid violence to do so as well. However, that only depends on how these next few days go.

The Courier was walking next to one of House's Securitrons. Much like Vegas, he is unable to broadcast himself this far from his relay's, so he sent a video message in the form of Victor, the Securitron that dug him up. The JSDF soldiers drove a good distance in front of the convoy, not really getting a good chance to look at anything in the convoy. They wanted to maintain their distance, yet stay close enough in order to signal any JSDF patrols that could attack the convoy.

The small group that was entering the base was made up of a Team of Veteran Rangers, as well as 2 B.o.S Knights and a group of NCR soldiers. Not counting the Courier, the Delegates, and Victor of course.

"Food... Smells... Good..." Came the rough voice of one of the Super Mutants. Since the battle for Hoover Dam, Super Mutants began to integrate themselves into society more and more. They have gained most of the rights of any other NCR citizen and are even allowed to serve in the NCR. The new General saw uses for having a massive and powerful meta-human as a front line soldier. Granted, you'd probably never see a Super Mutant in the Intel field or as a cook, but they made excellent infantry soldiers and could even match the best of the power armored divisions.

"Oh my God." Kuribayashi muttered to herself as she saw a Super Mutant for the first time. All of the other JSDF soldiers just stepped back, probably in a mixture of fear and disgust, as they saw this massive thing walk into the gate. "What the hell is that thing!?" She yelled out and pointed at the Super Mutant.

"What did you... call me Human!?" He yelled back at her, clearly enraged.

"Kelly, calm down." One of the other NCR soldiers told the Mutant and put a hand on its shoulder.

"You got a problem with muties girl?" Another NCR soldier came to his buddies defense and got into Kuribayashi's face.

"No, it's just..." She stuttered back.

"She's not an it, she's a she. Got it." He told her with an angry expression.

"... A she?" Kuribayashi muttered in shock.

"Yea, you best not forget it." He turned away from her.

"Ok, that's enough kid." Pops walked up to her and led her away.

"But..." She tried to protest.

"Best not to anger a Super Mutant." The Courier said. "They're really defensive about the way people talk about them, especially the females. Not easy getting a date when you're 7 feet tall, look like a man on Jet, and can't naturally reproduce." The Courier laughed a bit. "Especially lately during the Mutant Rights Act." He muttered to himself.

After the incident, the remaining soldiers and delegates went further into the base, JSDF soldiers running around while others maintained a low ready position with their rifles, ready to engage and destroy the PA troops if they showed any hostility.

The Courier noticed a strange distinction in how many of the soldiers were armed an equipped. Lt. Itami's weapons and equipment looked uniformed, like it fit his over all appearance. However, many of these soldiers seemed to be armed with different kinds of equipment. While many still had the traditional body armor that Itami had, others had body armor that had square like patterns, some had a green and brown color pallet while others looked almost gray. Many had weapons that looked very similar to the NCR Service Rifle, some even looked like a Marksman Rifle. The vehicles were similar to Itami's vehicles but had significantly more armor. The heavily armored ones were tan in color, though some had a camouflage pattern of green and black.

"Looks like the Officers went through with equipping us with American equipment." Kuribayashi whispered to SGM. Kuwahara.

"Yea, I've never seen a more clusterfuck of an army in my life." He laughed. "I hope we don't have to do formations, I don't think I can handle having so many un-uniformed soldiers." Even in the JSDF, they still have a hatred for having their Military look unprofessional. There is a lot of pride in having all your soldiers looks the same and look perfectly uniform. It's something that the U.S. Military always hated every time they had to change and update their uniforms.

"Itami." Called one of the other Officers that met with the young Lt.

"Yes sir?" Itami asked, fighting the urge to salute his superior Officer since he did not want to give the enemy visual knowledge that the man addressing him was an Officer. Snipers could still be in the area so in a deployment environment it's highly discouraged to salute.

"We've established an area for the Refugees and the PA officials." The Officer said. "It's on the south side of the base, they'll be given the same area however we've used C-wire to separate the two areas." He said.

"Understood." Itami said, moving to inform the rest of their group.

* * *

After Itami got his orders he went about moving resources and signing paperwork in order to get the supplies and equipment necessary for the refugees and the PA officials. Since the base was still being build they could only supply the PA officials with tents and cots for sleeping. Each equipment given was thoroughly inspected by members of the NCR Military in order to ensure that there were no recording devices or anything that could be hazardess or sabotaged.

C- wire, a more effective form of Barbed wire that uses razors on metal wire, separated the refugees from the PA. Although members of the PA were not restricted from interacting with the refugees, the JSDF wanted to ensure that the refugees were not abused or harassed by the soldiers. It was a fair precaution since even the NCR recognizes how unprofessional their soldiers could be at times. Although the NCR has greatly increased training and recruitment standards, the wasteland was still a very hard place to live that created less than moral characters.

The first day was spent setting up their tents and mess areas. No one in the three parties interacted with each other, both out of fear and caution. The JSDF did most of the work in setting up the refugee area, but the two armies stayed away from each other.

The Courier was busy cleaning his weapons with a weapons cleaning kit that an NCR soldier lent him. He also volunteered to guard the power armor while the heavy soldiers aided in building up their little area.

"How are you doing sir?" The Courier heard a man say to his left in a synthetic voice. He turned and saw one of the Brotherhood knights walking up to him in armor.

"Paladin." The Courier acknowledged.

"I can take over if you have anything else to do sir." He said.

"I got it Paladin, thanks anyway." The Courier said.

The Paladin stood next to the other power armors, making sure it was in a formation like the rest. He stood straight with his arms slightly parted and the rear of the armor opened up. The young knight stepped out of the armor and made sure to close it. He quickly inspected the power core on the back of the armor, making sure nothing was disconnected or damaged when it was opening.

"It's an honor to meet you again sir." The Paladin said.

"I can't say I recall meeting you." The Courier said honestly.

"I was in Hidden Valley Bunker during the 2nd Battle of Hoover Dam." He said. "You saved my sister during the initial assault. I never got the chance to properly thank you sir." He said.

"You're welcome Paladin." The Courier said with a small smile. "Here." He said, taking out a gold poker chip. "This is a gold chip, it's worth quite a bit in Vegas. You can get past the gate for free and it gives you a free week in a penthouse in one of the Casino's, minus the 38 of course." The Courier tossed it to him.

"Thanks sir." He said honestly.

"You can have up to 5 guests, good for a long week of fun with double dates." The man nodded and left, allowing the Courier to continue cleaning his weapons.

The Courier had no need for the poker chip, he had the Lucky 38 Penthouse and was allowed in for free. House only gave him those as more of a bartering tool.

The Courier placed down his weapons and looked out into the distance, just staring into nothing. Not much to do on a guard shift, he only took the job so that the real soldiers could work without any interference. Guard duty was by far his most hated job. He sighed and continued to wait for the soldiers to finish so someone could properly relieve him.

 **End Chapter 7**

Don't worry, there is not going to be a real peace. I fully intend armed and political conflict between the JSDF and the PA. Also, sorry for the long update, very busy few weeks.


	8. Chapter 8: Negotiations

**Chapter 8: Negotiations**

After three days of preparing their areas, the NCR and Brotherhood soldiers began to get a bit restless and anxious. Many of them were young men between 15 and 20 years old. Recruiting ages for the NCR were relatively low, the lowest being 14 years old to join the ranks of the NCR, however many kids would often lie about their age in order to get into service. With minimal and unreliable paper records for everyone, it was hard to validate the age of your average recruit. Even if they were discovered, a minor punishment was given and they were allowed to continue to serve. The NCR did not like wasting time and money training soldiers only to throw them away due to age.

A few young 1st Division soldiers decided to go over to the refugee side of the area, trying to entertain themselves by talking with the locals. This particular group were given language training with the added boost of Mentats, so they were able to roughly communicate with the refugees. Some young soldiers even started flirting with the young girls in the group. Not to hard considering the group was made up of women, children and elderly.

There was an incident with the JSDF since they preferred to keep the groups separated, but allowed them to interact as long as JSDF soldiers stood guard over the refugees. The Courier even gave the order that if any harm came to either the people or the JSDF they would be shot on the spot.

A couple of NCR soldiers began to talk with the JSDF soldiers, trying to be civil with them. While the JSDF soldiers were cautious at first, they started to open up to the foreign soldiers. It even lead into friendly competitions between the groups. The JSDF got some baseballs, bats, and gloves and started teaching the NCR how to play baseball. Most wastelanders never knew what baseball was since education was still lacking in the wasteland; specifically history. The JSDF soldiers felt a bit threatened that the NCR only knew of baseball bats as blunt weapons instead of a sporting equipment, but it was quickly replaced with laughter as the soldiers began to play.

They played baseball for hours, with the JSDF winning every single game due to their practice and experience. The NCR almost won on a couple of occasions, but ultimately lost to the more skilled Japanese players.

The Courier sat in the shade of the eating area, preferring to watch the fun from a distance. His anti-social personality prevented him from having any kind of fun with the rest of the soldiers. This was one of the main reasons he refused to join any faction in the PA. He may be an inspiration to these men, but that would all change if he took command. He didn't have the charisma to lead men into battle.

"Quite the sight, isn't it?" The Courier turned his head to look at the young medic who spoke with him before. Kurokawa approached the Courier and sat down next to him, a plate full of food in her hands.

"Just don't give them any alcohol, NCR soldiers are nothing more than raging hormonal men who want to party 24/7." The Courier said with a small laugh. "Probably what makes them so damned effective." Kurokawa laughed at that.

"They are really no different from the American soldiers I've worked with. When I worked on an American base for training, most of the patients were young American men who either drank too much or did something stupid to injure themselves. I guess no matter how different a society is, men will be men." She giggled.

"Don't worry though, they listen to me. If any of them act out of line, just come to me. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again." He assured her.

"I've been meaning to ask, why are you so revered?" She asked. "You're clearly not a soldier, or a member of the Military. You can't simply be a Courier." The Courier waved her off dismissively.

"I'm just a Courier." The Courier said. "Doesn't matter what other people think or say. I choose the life of a Courier, so that's what I am." He assured her.

"What's your name?" Kurokawa changed the subject. "You never answered me before." She said.

"Because I don't know." The Courier said.

"What do you mean?" Kurokawa asked. "How can you not know your own name?"

"See this scar?" The Courier showed her the scars on his forehead. "Who I was died that day, two bullets took away my old life. What I was, could have been, forever changed. I became the Courier against my will, however, I remained as one through choice." He said cryptically.

"I don't understand." Kurokawa said.

"A Courier is a catalyst, to destruction and creation. Who a person was before matters little, it's what we do today that makes us. The path we walk today shapes the future, the path we have walked only reminds us of where we are."

"You're making no sense." Kurokawa said again.

"The life of a Courier has created and destroyed societies in my world, however it has also taken away the life I lived." He said.

"So... you were severely injured doing your job. Possibly a gunshot wound to the head, and you suffered from amnesia." Kurokawa deduced. "Whatever kind of life you could have lived was taken away, yet you don't feel regret." The Courier nodded. "You could have just said that." She crossed her arms in annoyance.

"Guess an old friend rubbed off on me." The Courier laughed.

"Mind if I ask who?" She said.

"Doesn't matter, I killed him a while ago." Kurokawa gasped in shock.

"You killed your friend?" She said in shock.

"We were enemies, but we were both Couriers. We walked the same road. We knew everything about each other long before we met." The Courier said.

"How is that possible?" Kurokawa asked.

"Only a Courier would understand." Kurokawa just sighed.

"I'm done for now." She said, blocking out what he said. She had no idea what he was saying and preferred to drop the subject.

* * *

All of the delegates from the Pacific Alliance were sitting in a conference tent, waiting patiently for representatives of the Japanese government to come and greet them. Power armored Brotherhood soldiers stood guard against the walls, weapons lowered but ready to be used in case there is an attack against their delegates. NCR Rangers stood next to them, their Rifles slung and arms crossed, giving an air of intimidation to anyone who looked at them but could still draw their weapons in a moments notice. Victor the securitron stood next to the table since he didn't need a seat to sit.

The delegates all looked at the cowboy robot with awe and a bit of fear. It was reassured that he would not pose any kind of threat and only carried a message from one of their benefactors, who could not attend the meeting.

The Courier was sitting in the center of the table, with his arms calmly folded in front of him on the table. Instead of his usual outfit, he wore a suit that was delivered to him by Mr. House. It was a black suit with a white undershirt and a red tie. In true to his unique style, the Courier wore a feathered fedora with the suit. As with all other high class men in the wasteland, the suit was dirty and grimy, with wrinkles and a few patched holes since dry cleaning was a thing that only the old world did.

The Japanese Delegates were as nervous as the Courier expected. Not only that, but there were high ranking Officers from not just Japan, but other countries as well, such as the United States, United Kingdoms, and even Canada. Japan was under heavy criticism from their recent engagements and was forced to enlist the aid of the other great NATO powers. Luckily, they had the three most powerful Nations of their world (That directly allied with them) on their side.

Each of the delegates introduced each other. The Japanese delegates needed a translator since the Americans, Canadian, and British all understood the PA officials. It was a tense meeting, each person knew that hundreds, if not thousands of lives could be lost if anything went wrong.

Lt. General Hazama stayed silent during most of the introductions. He knew full well what the situation was like. He didn't understand how the PA worked in terms of their politics, but he knew all to well how their own worked. If a war did occur, it would be a very unpopular war. Even the American and European countries would not favor it. It would be like Iraq all over again. But this time, they have a potential enemy that is as powerful than they are, if not more so.

Intelligence shows that the PA have little to know smart technology. No drones or any kind of smart technology (With the exception of their ground forces, which had autonomous robots). In terms of aircraft, the Earth forces (Which he began unofficially calling themselves) would dominate the skies. The PA have next to nothing that can match their jets and helicopters. He knew that they would dominate the skies and that alone could give victory.

However their ground forces were another matter all together. Laser weapons, massive power armored suits, miniature nuclear warheads, he could go on. A ground war with the PA would lead to massive casualties on their side. Their armored units almost get rid of the need for a tank. While a tank is faster and more protected, it is useless in severely restricted terrain, such as a thick forest or mountain. While most of the terrain in the Special Region was open, those massive missile and lasers they had could easily destroy a tank. Intel estimates it can even punch through an American Abrams. That cowboy robot also scared him, if they could send waves of unmanned machines at them to degrade them, they'd have no real answer to that. It would quickly lead to the defeat of the JSDF.

And that's all they know. There is still a lot of mystery to them. Was this just an expeditionary force with limited resources, with a greater threat just looming beyond their gate? What kind of military uses a mini nuke in a defense role on their own territory. Drone images show that the area around their main camp is saturated in radiation, enough to cause severe illness and sickness to an adult male. Yet they are still patrolling that area without any protective gear, not even a hazmat suit. It's like they're immune to it.

For the first time in his long military career, the General was truly afraid of what would transpire with a war. He always embraced the idea of the Samurai, himself being a descendant of Samurai ancestry. But there is nothing glorious about this. All he wants is peace so that he no longer has to sacrifice men is a useless conflict.

"And with that out of the way, we'll begin with our initial talks." A Japanese representative said, which was then translated for the rest of the delegates.

"One of our main priories should be the distributions of land in Elysium." A delegate from the PA said, a wealthy Caravan owner who had a lot invested in this campaign.

Most of the delegates were members of royal blood in the NCR controlled territory. Wealthy caravan owners, weapons manufactures, region leaders, ranchers, high ranking Military Officers and politicians etc. Some of the most powerful men in the NCR were attending this meeting. The NCR is a lot like the old world U.S. in many ways. Military Officers and Politicians spoke on behalf of the interests of the central NCR government, while the Caravan owners and regional leaders had their own interest. The central government primarily collected taxes and funded the military, but the workings and laws of the PA controlled land was dictated locally by various types of smaller governments. Ranging from Autocracies to small Democracies. Even in the NCR, most regional leaders were either wealthy manufacturers or caravan owners.

"How so?" A delegate from America asked.

"This land would greatly increase our economy as well as allow for expansion of PA territory and influence. We understand you may have many of the same desires so we are willing to negotiate a division of land and resources that is exempt from influence by each of our governments." He clarified.

"We have no interest in settling in this land or expanding our territories." A Japanese official said. "While we do desire the resources from this land, it will be acquired through trade and legal transactions with the local governments of the Special Region." Some of the PA officials laughed in amusement.

"These local governments are nothing more than tribals. Honestly, we'd be doing them a favor by bringing them under PA jurisdiction." A Military Officer said.

The PA was vastly different in their foreign policies regarding tribals. If the Elysium societies showed technology matching that of the industrial era, the PA would simply invite them into their pact as either an ally or a PA member. However, the Elysium society was seen as nothing more than tribals. No different from the tribals of the great salt lake or the areas north of the Mohave. The NCR specifically had a huge hatred for tribals and saw their pacification and indoctrination into modern society as a benefit to mankind. After all, Caesars Legion was formed from tribal societies.

"What do you mean?" A British rep asked. "They have a right to their land and resources and will not be conquered."

"They are tribal people that have no real benefit to our society." A politician said. "We desire the chance to expand our borders and access to more natural resources. We don't have time to trade with a backwater people that barely understand the concept of the wheel. We have an obligation to our society to spread and our borders and influence. Especially with a chance like this."

"What chance?" A Canadian rep asked.

"Our world is dead." The Courier decided to talk. "While normally I'm against the idea of conquering a people without just cause, this is a different situation. Our world is dead, the end result of 200 years of nuclear saturation and destruction of society. This land is filled with life, and for the first time we have the chance to settle in a land that is free from radiation or mutation. Normally I'd be supportive of Tribal rights, however this chance is too good to pass up." He calmly said.

"So you would destroy an entire way of life for your own selfish reasons?" General Hazama finally spoke up as well.

"Being moral is nice when the opportunity presents itself, but in the Wasteland survival is everything. I take no pleasure in the thought of taking their land and rights, but it is necessary in order to ensure the survival of our society and prosperity of our future generations." The Courier countered.

After that revelation the negotiations began to get heated. The brutal policies and society of the PA clashed with the peaceful and humanitarian views of the JSDF and their allies. The Courier knew at this point that peace was impossible. There were many things discussed, propositions that neither side found to be in their liking. The proposals of the PA were simply too brutal for the JSDF to accept, and the propositions from the JSDF would hurt the PA economy more than it would help since their humanitarian ideals prevented the possibility of expanding their borders.

This was not going to end peacefully, the Courier would bet his entire fortune on that.

* * *

"So... how'd it go friend?" Victor asked the Courier.

"I thought it would go well, you know?" The Courier said. "We're both advanced societies with a similar political structure, interested on the fruits that this new land bears... but they have such a childish view of the world." He shook his head.

"I hear ya on that one." Victor agreed.

"I understand them wanting to avoid unnecessary abuse of the local natives, but this is just asinine." He said in frustration. "They expect us to go back to a nuclear hell and slowly rot away? As much as I'm against the aggressive expansion of the NCR, without it the NCR would have collapsed from lack of resources and a depression long ago if they didn't. It's not like we're warmongers, but expanding territory is the only way for the economy to survive. Even a druggy from New Reno could understand that." He fumed.

"Well, it's not the first society to think their way is better. Hell, at-least moral won't drop from the fear of crucifixions like with the Legion." The Courier laughed at Victor.

"No kidding." The Courier agreed. "I've been doing some digging lately." The Courier said.

"What'd you find out?" Victor asked. The Courier knew that Victor transmits all important information to House as soon as he gets it, so by telling Victor the Courier would inform both House and the top brass back at base.

"Their society is weak." He said flatly. "Most of their population are completely against any kind of armed conflict. Even the JSDF is not allowed to declare war, only defend themselves since they're not allowed to have a standing army." He said flatly. "Not only that, even the loss of a few dozen of their soldiers is considered a high casualty rate. Our previous engagements have caused the highest casualties in their society for over 60 years. We'd have the advantage in how much we're willing to sacrifice."

The PA does not take the sacrifice of it's service members lightly. They will do anything they can to avoid the loss of men in harms way, but they understand that casualties are a part of war. Desperation, and the war with the Legion, taught the NCR that many good men and women will die in combat, no matter what. Even then, it's estimated that over 90% of the population in the PA are supportive of any hostile actions, even if it becomes as massive a conflict as with the Legion. Already there have been talks about new cities, ranches, division of property among members of the PA and even settlements throughout Elysium. Hell, the map was halfway done and the rich have already started purchasing land.

"So it will be an easy fight?" Victor asked.

"Remember, I'm not Commander. So I can't really predict the outcome." The Courier admitted humbly. "It will likely be a massive war with many men dying on both sides, but there is a good chance that they'll abandon this campaign if their soldiers are dying in waves. Their pacifism will likely prevent them from fighting at their best, and their desire to save as many of their soldiers as possible will also prevent them from making risky maneuvers. At least until they get desperate." The Courier said. "All we have to do is outlast them, and kill enough of their guys so that they'll run away. Pretty simple really." The Courier said.

"I'm impressed you found all this out." Victor said.

"You'd be surprised how much you can learn when you are clever with words. Just got to have a conversation with some cancer sticks with some bored private pulling a 12 hour guard shift." The Courier laughed.

"Clever partner." Victor laughed as well. "You always did have a silver tongue."

"I prefer peace whenever possible, you waste less ammo that way." The Courier said in a somewhat bored tone. He was no humanitarian, but prolonged fights often left you without ammo or resources for the next one.

The Courier lit a cancer stick and started walking away from victor so he could get some rest.

* * *

After a few days of discussing possible peace agreements, neither side could fully come to an agreement that would prevent future hostilities. PA officials that are on the JSDF base were given free passage out of JSDF controlled territory, with a warning that continued operations to seize land from the natives would be met with open hostility.

As of right now, the JSDF would not engage in any kind of combat unless the PA makes the first move. Obviously the reaction from the higher ups were met with slight annoyance, but since the campaign was a very popular one in the minds of PA citizens, operations would continue as is.

"We'll engage tribal forces here in the city of Italica." COL Few briefed to the officers in the tent. "We'll set up Boomers 3 kilometers away from the city wall and commence a 24 hour artillery bombardment. From there we'll use Air Mobile troopers to land inside the city and seize key strategic locations. Airborne troopers will land on the north side, opposite to the main force, and fix any tribal soldiers in order to prevent them from relocating to the main gate. From there, we'll have Brotherhood knights breach an opening in the southern gate and take over the city."

As he said the plan was simple, and even illustrated on a map. Blue rectangles (Representing friendly units) were along the southern side of the city. Boomers would weaken enemy forces after a long bombardment. Then the Air CORP will move in.

The Air CORP is a collection of the Air Divisions in the PA Army. The 1st and 10th Air Mobile Divisions used repelling from vertibirds in order to land anywhere in the battle-space. 1st DIV was heavily armored BoS Knights, while 10th were light infantry NCR foot soldiers. As for the Airborne Divisions, they were comprised of the 28th ABN DIV, 5th ABN DIV, and the 18th ABN DIV. All light infantry paratroopers that could put a large number of troops anywhere via parachute.

Their jobs are to occupy key locations inside the city and fix tribal forces at the northern wall, preventing aid to the southern wall. It's a textbook assault. Even though PA forces greatly outmatched the tribals, practicing doctrine allowed them to keep their skills and soldiers sharp. Not only that, there is a very good chance that the JSDF would try to assault friendly forces during the battle.

"Intelligence suggests that without the JSDF the city will fall in a matter of hours, after the 24 hour bombardment that is. With the JSDF, it will likely be one of the toughest battles we've fought since the Legion." The COL said.

With that, every officer rendered a salute to the COL and left the tent and prepared for the upcoming battle.

"Don't you think it's a little much do be bombing the city for 24 hours?" The Courier asked the COL.

"We don't take chances Courier." He returned. "We have no idea if the JSDF will be stationed in the city. Our scouts are unable to view over the wall since it's too risky to get close. And Vertibirds would draw too much attention. Either the scouts or the birds would show the enemy we intend to attack, this would make them strengthen their defenses and make a siege harder than it has to be. If it wasn't for the threat of the JSDF I'd probably be less cautious about this campaign. But my time fighting the Legion taught me not to under-estimate an opponent that is weaker than you. Even then, the JSDF have technology and capabilities we don't. We might dominate land forces, but their air power is far greater than ours."

"So no matter what, this will be one of the first real tests of the PA since its formation." The Courier summarized.

"Without a doubt." The COL said.

The Courier left the tent, getting himself ready for the incoming invasion of the tribal trade city.

* * *

Sorry it's been a while. Work. Please review, thank you.


	9. Chapter 9: Invasion of Italica

**Chapter 9: Invasion of Italica**

"Assassin X-ray this is Spartan 5, fire mission, Grid coordinates 1-6-Tango-3-6-7-3-7-8-9-2-4-5, AG, fire for effect, over." An NCR Ranger said from his concealed location near the tree line. In front of him was an open field, about 1,000 meters long, and a large walled village was in the distance. He had binoculars and a radio with him, calling out enemy positions as he saw them. There was a loud BOOM that came from behind him, followed by a whistling sound that passed over him. Moments later, there was a large explosion 100 meters in front of the wall.

"Assassin X-ray this is Spartan 5, target, miss. Adjust, 100 meters, 12-o-clock, over." there was another BOOM and once again the artillery round screamed over his head. The explosion went over the wall this time, but from his vantage point the Ranger could tell it landed near the wall. He could see the movement of soldiers all around the area, running in circles and unsure of what to do. This is likely the first time these filthy tribals ever saw modern weapons of war. The Ranger smiled at how similar this was to the NCRs conquest of tribals in the East and North of California.

"Assassin X-ray this is Spartan 5, target, mark. Repeat, over." He said as more artillery rounds began to fire. Other forward observers began calling their own targets, ranging from suspected supply storages, military barracks, and government complexes. A few would even create holes in the wall with direct hits, creating openings that the PA can exploit when they send in their heavy weapons. Combat Engineers will then move in to clear the rubble in the holes and breaches in the wall to allow for quick access into the city.

Never before has a city in the Empire been attacked from the ground and the air.

* * *

The wind blew the waist high patches of grass all along the outside landscape of the city. The breeze blew the blades of grass, masking the stalking predator that was concealed in the field.

NCR 1st Recon, the best sharpshooters in the NCR. Not even the Rangers compared to their amazing sniping capabilities. It's not uncommon for a Sharpshooter in the 1st Recon to be capable of hitting a man from 1,000 Meters away with iron sighted rifles. They were masters of camouflage and very patient predators. They were known to wait in a single spot for days at a time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike their prey.

The sharpshooter took his position 500 meters on the outside of the wall, his body covered in natural vegetation that he plucked from the surrounding environment. His prey was anyone on the wall that was of high value, such as an officer or JSDF personnel. He was armed with a bolt action hunting rifle with an 8X powerful scope. He didn't use a bi-pod and preferred to simply rest the gun on his arm, as he always felt that bi-pods interfere with crawling. They always snagged on something. Most missions he even preferred to abandon the scope, but for this one he needed to positively ID individual targets.

Since radios were expensive, snipers typically didn't get them for solo operations. They were trusted to know what to shoot at and avoid being detected by the enemy. The sharpshooter preferred it anyway, to him this was nothing more than a shooting gallery, no different than at the festivals he grew up attending.

He looked through the scope and adjusted the focus so he could clearly see his targets. It was like the Legion, officers always waved their dick around with their fancy clothes and armor. It's almost impossible to not notice them.

He waited for the deafening sound of an explosion from the artillery rounds, that way the sound would mask his shot. He could stay in his position longer since no one would be able to tell where the shot came from. Aiming at the guy with the most expensive looking armor, he fired right as an explosion sounded.

It took a second, but the bullet reached its mark, ending the mans life. The soldier he was talking to just froze in complete horror as his superior fell in an explosion of blood.

In the corner of his scope he saw a red headed female running up to the downed man, her face riddled with fear. Next to her was another female, but with long black hair and wearing JSDF armor. The sharpshooter simply looked for more targets, he refused to ever shoot or harm a woman.

He began to take fire from the JSDF soldiers that were stationed on the wall. They had no idea where he was so they couldn't effectively engage him outside of suppressive fire. He decided to risk one more shot before relocating, which was dangerous but 1st Recon was never above a little bit of danger. He took aim at one of the JSDF soldiers and prepared to squeeze the trigger.

* * *

Itami climbed the wall after he was called by Kurokawa. He saw her treating an injured imperial officer who was shot in the chest, his armor providing no protection from the round.

"Sir, we're taking accurate fire out there. I think there's a sniper located in the field." She said to her leader.

"Kurokawa, for now focus on helping that man. The rest of you lay down suppressive fire in that field. Try to flush out the sniper." He shouted out orders and was returned with his men saying roger.

Itami took aim with his rifle and began to fire it in the direction of the shots. This sniper did not telegraph himself in anyway. There was no sound or muzzle flash, just more piled up bodies. He didn't want to risk his soldiers being killed but knew he had to engage anyway. He also felt like hitting himself for coming to Italica in the first place.

"Sir, we can't find him any..." Kurata said but was cut off for some reason. Itami guessed it was from the nearby explosion and startled him. Itami continued his fire for several more minutes, barely able to hear kurokawa say something from behind him.

When he ordered his men to cease fire his ears were ringing and he could barely hear. The attack was so sudden they didn't have time to put in their issued ear protection. Itami was almost sure he is partially deaf from all the gunshots and explosions. It felt like his ears needed to pop.

"Sir..." Kurokawa said somberly.

"What's is it sergeant?" Itami turned around and saw why she was somber. Kurata had been shot in the neck by the sniper. It grazed the side of his neck but Itami could tell it severed his coratted artery. Kurokawa was desperately holding some gauze against his neck to try and stop the bleeding but it wasn't enough. Kurata was beginning to pass out from the blood loss.

"Kurata..." Itami whispered in fear. "Kurokawa, we have to move him!" He shouted to his medic.

"Sir, if we move him without keeping pressure on his neck he'll bleed out." She said.

"But what else can we do, we need to call for a MEDIVAC." Itami said.

"I can't stop the bleeding." She said as tears began to fall.

Kurokawa was no stranger to blood. She's never had to treat a battlefield casualty, but she did treat casualties in field training or at the range. Accidents that happened during training and shooting events. But this was different, she can't save him. She could see the light fade from his eyes as more blood got past the gauze that was applied to his neck.

With one last cough of blood, Kurata passed out from blood loss. In about 15 minutes he would be brain dead from lack of oxygen. There was nothing they could do.

Itami just stared at his otaku friend. They both arrived at the unit together, him a new lieutenant and Kurata a new private. They were fast friends from their mutual like of anime and manga. They were always together and always talked about their hobbies. They even spent time outside of work to pursue their hobbies together.

Itami had no words, no one else's death affected him quite like this.

"Incoming!" Kurokawa screamed as an artillery round landed near their position. She hit the ground but Itami refused to move, he just stared at his lost friend. "Sir, we have to do something." She said.

"We'll fall back to the government complex and radio for immediate CASEVAC." He said. "We'll then begin preparations for a defense while we wait for backup." Itami picked up his dead friend and started carrying him away from the sniper. He couldn't do anything against the snipers but he needed space to think.

He won't let another friend die.

* * *

"Please sir Itami, is there anything you can do?" Princess Pina asked the JSDF officer.

"I don't know." He said. "Our back up is on their way but I'm not even sure they could stop this invasion." He looked away from her.

"How can an army be capable of such destruction?" She asked herself.

She spent her whole life preparing for this chance, the chance to prove her worth as a warrior and as a leader. But now there is nothing, no victory of honor, just an impending defeat. Her mind was filled with the horrors of what would be done to her. She would probably be sold as a slave or married off to a high ranking officer. She may even be tortured and shared among the soldiers for entertainment. Such thoughts kept her awake during the night.

Then there was the nonstop sounds of thunder and fire. Their siege weapons would not stop and reduced much of their supply and military assets to rubble. If this continued the whole city would starve in a matter of days.

"Sir." The sergeant major called to Itami. "We have command on the line, they are sending a large AirAssault force accompanied by American special forces and SEALs. They'll arrive within the next hour or two." He said and went back to the radio.

"Understood sergeant major." Itami replied.

"Who are they?" The princess asked.

"They're our allies and some of the best trained soldiers in our world." He replied.

The entire building had been turned into a makeshift CP, with maps of the entire city dotted with objects to represent friendly and enemy positions. Itami had been working with the princess to mount a defense, since he had more training and experience in this kind of warfare.

Itami started to cough again, this time violently. Kurokawa ran up to him to make sure he was ok. She noticed there was blood on his hand.

"Sir, what's wrong?" She asked him.

"I'm fine." He protested but began to stumble slightly.

"You haven't been feeling well lately sir." Kurokawa said. "I've noticed it for a while now, you're sick." Itami pushed her away.

"I said I'm fine sergeant!" He raised his voice, causing her to step back slightly. She knew he was angry, they all were. Kurata was a very good friend of his, probably his closest one in the unit. She knew he was beginning to become emotionally unstable.

"Sir, I understand you outrank me, but as the medical professional here I am ordering you to allow me to look at you." She stood her ground. In many cases a medics word out ways most others. It even is blind to rank. However Itami would not budge.

"I told you I'm fine sergeant. Return to your duties." He said angrily and walked away. Truthfully, he felt bad about what he said to her, but he wasn't in the right state of mind. He was in shock and felt extremely sick. He kept it a secret, but he even started to develop sores on his body. It was like the top layers of his skin were starting to peel off.

kuribayashi ran up to him from her assigned spot. "Sir, we have a huge problem..." She trailed off.

She lead Itami out to the main balcony and what they saw made them regret coming here alone.

World War Two era bombers flew overhead towards the north of the city. As they did men began to jump out, followed by parachutes deploying, having them gently float to the ground. Twin bladed helicopters flew over some of the buildings in the city and had light infantry me. Repel off of them. Some had armored men that used a kind of winch system to lower them due to the weight. Small enemy groups breached the city and now they were being attacked on two fronts. This situation was getting worse by the moment.

"we're fucked..." Kuribayashi said flatly.

"Yup..." Itami agreed. There was not much they could do at this point. They could only re-enforce their position in the main government Building and wait for aid from their allies.

To the south he saw large numbers of armored men slowly make their way to the breaches in the city. This battle was over... They could do nothing against such superior forces.

* * *

the sound of a low rumble caused the advancing BoS Knights to look up. In the sky they saw aircraft that didn't belong to them. They were approaching fast and heading directly for them.

In moments the entire formation scattered after the jets launched an attack using missiles and bombs. Most BoS Knights only suffered minor damage since the power armor absorbed most of the damage. Only those close to the missile hit were actually injured or killed.

In moments the PA began to order their air defenses out into the open. They were more portable versions of Mr. Houses laser defense system that was transported by truck.

Within moments they engaged, lasers shooting out and destroying the enemy jets that were in the air. The system was designed to knock nuclear missiles and bombers out of the sky, with resounding success. It had no trouble reducing the Emmy air power to nothing.

The main force continued their advance towards the breaches in the wall, occasionally shooting at any tribal they saw.

Once again however, the sky was filled with the sound of aircraft, but this time it was the enemy helicopters that were flying towards the city. Hundreds of large helicopters, bearing two distinct insignias, began landing troops within the city. Some were shot down by the laser defense system, but most made it with no trouble.

When the BoS Knights entered the city they were quickly met with enemy forces wearing a mix of camouflage uniforms. They were unable to damage the power armor with their low caliber weapons, but they engaged with anti-armor weapons and 50. Caliber weapons. Rocket launchers designed to pierce tank armor easily destroyed individual Knights. The 50. Cal weapons also made quick work of any knight that was targeted. However, the defending JSDF and American SOF were still outnumbered.

Defending forces began to bound backwards, taking some casualties of their own. Their plan was to attrit enemy numbers through ambushes and direct fire. I worked well, but they were losing too many men to the superior and heavier weapons of the attacking forces.

"This is Talon 1, we need Rangers here now. Send in a battalion before we are wiped out. Over." One of the commanders called over the radio. He was met with an acknowledged reply and told his me to hold their positions.

Vertibirds carrying patrol and veteran Rangers alike began to deploy inside the city. The Rangers quickly fast roped into action and began to return accurate fire.

The Rangers knew that the men with the old world flag on their shoulders were more skilled and elites in their own right, so they engaged the old world American soldiers and left the JSDF to fight the BoS.

one Ranger entered a building with old world soldiers inside and began to do his clearing procedures. He was alone and his lever action rifle was shouldered and ready.

He kicked down a door and entered into one of the rooms, shooting the round into one of the soldiers heads but didn't kill since his helmet deflected the round. The second one ran up to the Ranger and tackled him, causing him to lose his rifle. The Ranger noticed that there were 3 soldiers and the other was getting ready to shoot him. Thinking quickly he pulled out a throwing knife and threw it at the soldiers firing hand, causing him to drop the rifle.

All the while he was getting punched repeatedly in the face and the soldier even cracked the lenses of his gas mask. He returned with punches of his own and flipped the soldier on his back, now being the one to rain down punches. His injured buddy came up from behind and lifted him up in a half Nelson chokehold. The Ranger kicked him in the shin and managed to avoid getting stabbed in the front.

One soldier took out a semiautomatic pistol and was starting to aim it at the Ranger. The Ranger however took out his sequoia and shot the top of the pistol, causing the man to drop it. He then shot the knife of another soldier and knocked that out as well.

The soldier he shot in the head got up and kicked him in the leg, causing him to fall over. The Ranger quickly got up and unloaded his revolver into the chest of all 3 men, but aside from stumbling they were fine. He cursed to himself, remembering how good their plated armor was. With no time to reload he took out his trench knife and engaged the 3 skilled warriors. They surrounded the Ranger but his 25 years of experience made him able to match the 3 trained men.

The Ranger was cut multiple times but also gave some serious wounds back. After a minute of hand to hand the 3 soldiers retreated when they heard voices coming from downstairs.

The Ranger sheathed his blade, those men were able to hold off a veteran Ranger, not many people could do that, even if it was 10 to 1. He allowed them to retreat to fight another day, they have shown great promise and dedication to combat. They were well trained, but looked to be no older than 30. If they were as old an experienced as the Ranger they would have defeated him. The Ranger had illegally joined at 10 years old, and has been at war for 25 years. The primary factor of this fight was his experience and their numbers and it ended in a draw.

"you ok?" One of his Ranger buddies asked as he entered the room.

"Actually had a good challenge, don't know who those bastards are but they're good." he smiled.

"Pick up your gear and let's keep moving." The Ranger nodded and went to retrieve his fear that was scattered around the room.

* * *

"We've lost all the districts in the southern portion of the city." Grey reported to the princess as she sat on the throne. "Those men from the sky have just breached the northern gate and are sending in their soldiers. We're unable to hold any ground. Even the soldiers from Alnus are unable to stop their advance."

"Then there is nothing to be done." The princess said solemnly. "I will raise the flag of surrender so we can save as many lives as we can, clearly the enemy has bested us."

"Your majesty!" Itami burst through the door. Pina looked at him with a bit of surprise. "We have transportation out of the city and need to evacuate everyone from the manor." He said.

The princess debated what he said, then she went over to the balcony to get a better look at the now ruined city. Smoke rose from all over the place, building were in ruin and the sound of thunder and flashes of lightning from those strange staffs filled the air.

Truly the gods have been angered, and they are now waging a war for control of this world, and the empire is now at war with both of these god like civilizations.

Regretfully she made the choice to surrender to the sand colored men. She only prayed that they were merciful in victory and showed honor towards her and the conquered city.

"Princess, we will give you safe passage into JSDF territory and asylum from the PA." Itami said.

"I can not, I can't abandon my duties as a princess and leader of the rose order. I will stay." She said with conviction, refusing to simply leave her comrades alone to their fate. Itami nodded in understanding and prepared to get on the last UH-60.

* * *

The courier knew the battle was over when he saw the flag of the empire lower itself from the manor in the center. His involvement in the battle was next to nothing, For once the NCR were able to hold their own and successfully defeat the combined empire and JSDF forces.

Nearly all hostilities ended and the JSDF were still in the process of evacuating important personnel from the manor. As long as the JSDF did not engage the PA, they would not attack the retreating helicopters or aircraft. Given how similar the JSDF were to their own people they followed a code of honor and mercy in their conflicts. Delegates learned that the JSDF allies outlawed attacking medical vehicles and personnel during evacuation, so the PA agreed to follow this as long as said vehicles and personnel did not attack them.

As the Courier reached the entrance of the manor, alongside the Colonel, he was greeted by the sight of a young beautiful woman with red hair and expensive armor. She looked nervous and frightened but she maintained her composure well enough. She looked at the Courier with a bit of fear, no doubt intimidated by his gas mask.

"Are you the leader of this tribal village?" The commander asked the young woman. She flushed in anger at being called a tribal, no doubt used to being the most advanced society in this world.

"I am princess Pina Co Lada, daughter of the Emperor and 11th successor to the throne." She stated confidently and with pride in her voice.

"According to the regulations of NCR and tribal interactions, signed by her madam president, you will surrender your authority of this city and its surrounding land and submit yourself for tribal rehabilitation and education." Pinya just nodded solemnly in slight fear, wondering what her fate would be. Her fear replaced any kind of anger she felt at being called a tribal.

"May I ask my opponents name?" She requested.

"Colonel Few, acting general and commander of the Elysium expedition." He said proudly. Due to the large amounts of casualties sustained in wasteland warfare, many commanders found themselves in commanding roles above their rank. Typically a major general, two ranks above Few, would be the commander. But desperate times.

"Then I, Pinya Co Lada relinquish control of the trading city of Italica to you." He bowed down and kneeled in front of the Colonel.

"Very well..." He said. "Sergeant." He called to one of his men.

"Sir." The sergeant replied.

"Detain the young princess for further questioning and interrogation for future operations. No doubt she has a wealth of knowledge on the enemies inner workings." The sergeant said roger and began to manhandle the princess, forcing her hands behind her back and securing them.

"What are you doing?" She asked in fear. "Release me, I will cooperate, I promise." She pleaded as she began to resist being taken away. Her allies looked at her in sorrow and pity, knowing they can do nothing to save her.

The princess screamed and fought as she was taken away, placed into a transport truck and taken away from the city. Once she was alone in the truck she broke down crying, ashamed at herself for losing this battle and terrified of what these savages would do to her. She hugged her knees to her chest and wept at her own misfortunes.

"Bit harsh, don't you think?" The Courier asked.

"So? She a tribal." The Colonel said and noticed the Couriers annoyed look.

"What are you going to do with her?" The Courier asked.

"She'll be rotated to Nellis for questioning and rotated back to our outpost in Elysium, then detained as a bargaining chip against the empire. Most of our interrogators are not allowed to enter the gate so she'll spend some time in Nellis before returning." He said.

"Doesn't the NCR have human Intel here?" The Courier asked.

"Yes, but our contractors in Nellis can avoid NCR laws against torture since they are not affiliated to the military." He said. "Don't worry, we will only use as much force as necessary and she'll be treated humanly by all NCR personnel." He said.

"She better, I hate unnecessary harm against tribals." The Courier said flatly, which was a bit of a threat.

He decided to get some rest and headed back to the main base, preferring to leave the clean up to the brotherhood and NCR.

 **Chapter 9: Invasion of Italica**


End file.
